Wrath
by Jay Witness
Summary: Rejected by the clans as a kit, left to stew in his rage on the streets, the rogue Shade has realized something. Being Shade, lost little kit, isn't good enough anymore. The clans will soon see that the pathetic kit they turned away has toughened up...
1. Chapter 1

PROLOGUE

Shade was miserable. For a moon now, he had been on the streets, starving, thirsty, and cold. He managed to survive on the thin mice that crossed his path and the metallic-tinted human water. Most nights were spent crouched in holes or bushes. Sometimes he could squeeze into warm places, since he was barely six moons and still pretty small.

But the worst part were the memories. You see, life hadn't always been this way for Shade. When he was younger, he remembered plump prey, plentiful rain, and a warm place snuggled in between his littermates.

Humans had changed all that, however. A group of them had come and lit a fire in the forest. At first they contained it in a little circle of rocks. Then the wind began to blow, and embers flew. The next thing he knew, the clearing was ablaze.

Mindless with fear, Shade and his family fled from the blaze. As far as he knew, his parents were devoured instantly by the flames. His littermates ran beside him, fear-scent and smoke making them cough as they ran. After a moment, he ran alone. He didn't know what happened to them, and he didn't want to know.

Shade escaped to the human territory, a place of cold, inflammable bricks. For a while, the presence of so many things that couldn't serve as tinder comforted him. But before long, he found himself longing desperately for soft grass underpaw and trees on all sides. The bricks and stone became oppressing and depressing.

In happier times, just a month ago, his mother had told him tales about four clans that lived south of the human territory. On dark, starry nights, she would often spin tales of glory and freedom in the clans, tales about fierce cats ruled only by an honor code. They were wild, but they survived by safety in numbers.

That life had always seemed fun, but hard compared to Shade's, where food was handed to him from his parents and he never had to fight for anything. But now, that life seemed appealing. At the very least, it was better than his current lifestyle.

He turned to the south. The forest was his last hope now.

Dovekit was curled at her mother's side, relaxing sleepily. Her brother and sister, Blackkit and Shadowkit, were play fighting beside them, while her other brother Sparrowkit groomed himself quietly in the corner. Since only one other queen was in the nursery now, and her kits were older, they often had the whole place to themselves.

"Let's play four clans!" Blackkit shouted. "I call WoodClan!"

"You always get WoodClan!" Shadowkit complained. Dovekit was with her- since WoodClan was their own clan, everyone always wanted to be that clan's leader. Blackkit hissed.

Suddenly the other queen, Grayfur, stuck her head in the nursery, momentarily breaking apart what would soon become a full-blown fight between leadership of WoodClan.

"Frosttail, come quickly. Something's happening at the camp entrance!" she said, then vanished, no doubt eager to see the commotion. Grayfur loved gossip.

Frosttail, their mother, rose to her paws. "Stay here, kits," she said, following her friend.

Of course, as soon as she was gone, Blackkit led them stealthily out the nursery. At the camp entrance, a large group of cats were circled around something. Blackkit boldly shoved through to the front of the crowd, gaining some disapproving looks from their elders. Dovekit blushed, but was too curious to retreat.

In the center of the cats was a small black tom, hardly older than she. His fur was matted and he was incredibly thin. His amber eyes were bright with hunger. In short, he was nothing but pathetic.

Birchheart, a warrior, was keeping a close eye on him. Dovekit wondered at that- the tiny tom hardly posed a threat to the clan.

Thornstar pushed his way through the crowd, similar to Blackkit's shoving, except no one shot him dirty looks. Dovekit didn't particularly like Thornstar- he was opinionated, rude, mean, and occasionally just plain unfair. She liked Stonetail, the deputy, much better. Stonetail often had the tough job of explaining Thornstar's ruder actions to the clan.

"What is this, Birchheart?" Thornstar demanded.

"I found this scrap wandering around the forest. He asked to see my leader when I confronted him. I'd think he were a lost kitty pet if he didn't tell me he knew about clans."

Thornstar pierced the young tom with his prickly gaze. "How do you know about clans, kitty pet?"

"I don't know what a kitty pet is," he squeaked out. "But I know about clans from my mother's stories."

"Birchheart, this is clearly a wandering kit whose lost his mommy. Send him on his way."

"Wait!" the tom called out boldly. Thornstar turned his gaze back to him, and he humbled again. "That's just the problem. My name is Shade. My family is dead, and I have no home. I was wondering if…" he took a deep breath. "If maybe I could join your clan."

Thornstar laughed. "Foolish kit. Does this look like the sort of clan that lets in tainted blood? Filth like you is hardly permitted on our borders, not to mention permitted in the clan!" Dovekit found herself angered by Thornstar's 'pure' blood rant.

"In any case," Thornstar said, his voice full of contempt. "You should see yourself. A scrawny tom like you wouldn't survive a day in the warrior life."

Shade raised his eyes. "Please! I have no other home!"

"And you still don't. Be beyond our borders by sunset, or I will give orders to attack." He turned his back and weaved through the crowd and back to his den.

Shade glanced around at the clan cats timidly, backed up slowly, then darted into the forest.

Many cats glanced at each other sadly. Apparently Dovekit wasn't the only one who disapproved.

"Mommy?" Sparrowkit piped up.

"Yes sweetie?" she said softly.

"Why was Thornstar so mean to that little cat?"

"I don't know, love. I just don't know."


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER ONE:

Sparrowheart flushed. He hissed a low comment at his brother, but he appeared to not have noticed, and continued arguing with the StormClan warrior, right in front of a WoodClan patrol and a StormClan patrol.

Sure, the WoodClan patrol was just him and Dovepelt, his sister, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Blacktail had chased that squirrel over the border, and everyone knew it, but he was refusing to admit it.

"Just admit you stole the squirrel, and we can be done with this, Blacktail," the warrior hissed. Unfortunately, Sparrowheart's brother was known in all the clans for his bold rudeness.

"Liar!" Blacktail hissed. "I know where the border is! I never would have crossed it! Are you calling me a fool?"

One of the StormClan she-cats on patrol stepped forward. "No, he isn't. Pebblefur just thinks he might have saw you put a paw over the border. But maybe he made a mistake, who knows?"

Pebblefur started to mutter something angrily, but the she-cat silenced him with a glance. Blacktail nodded. "I know he did."

"You're right. Everyone makes mistakes. In fact, you might've made a little mistake. It happens to the best of us, right?"

"Um, I guess," Blacktail said, looking confused.

"So why don't we all get back to our patrols and leave this as a simple mistake, okay?"

Pebblefur and Blacktail nodded. Sparrowheart was impressed.

Blacktail padded off to rejoin Shadowstream, who hissed, "Do we have to do this every time?" impatiently. Sparrowheart stole another admiring glance at the StormClan she-cat, and wished that he had such good peacemaking abilities. Sure would come in handy with a brother like Blacktail.

Dovepelt wished faintly that her brother could stand up for himself.

Ever since they were kits, Sparrowheart had been quiet and timid. She'd assumed that as time went on, he would get bolder and his real personality would shine through. But, her hopes were for naught. A season gone by since his warrior ceremony and still, he was same old shy Sparrowheart.

And his shyness put the burden on her to stick up for him. Shadowstream was unwilling to share the weight, and she had a feeling Blacktail didn't even notice how the other warriors picked on him. They always gave him the hardest patrols and toughest jobs and sent him out to hunt every moment he had a bit of free time.

It was only at Doveheart's insistance that they laid off him once and a while.

Frankly, she was tired of it. But what was she gonna do? Let the older warriors walk all over Sparrowheart?

Luckily, the four of them had remained close after leaving the nursery, so she had a support system. She vented often to Shadowstream, the best listener, but felt bad about saying things like that about her brother afterward.

She lifted her head as she heard Whitefang's voice. "Sparrowheart, why don't you go on the hunting patrol instead of me?"

Her brother made a small noise of agreement, which prompted Speckledfoot. "And after that, could you fetch water for the elders? Bluestream asked me, but I'm very tired…"

"Um, okay. Sure thing," he said quietly.

"Oh, and Sparrowheart?" Mousetail called. "Go ahead and take my place on the evening patrol. I'm tired too."

Sparrowheart's eyes widened, but he nodded. Dovepelt shook her head. Sometimes she felt like everyone in the clan was playing a game to see how much work they could make her brother do before he finally said no. Or maybe they were just plain lazy.

In any case, she couldn't just sit by idly. She stood up and padded over dutifully. "Hey, guys, don't you think that's a lot of work for just Sparrowheart to handle?" she asked, trying the nice approach.

"Ah, he can handle it." Whitefang said.

"Yeah. He could use a little exercise, if you ask me," Speckledfoot said.

"But won't Stonetail and Bluestream get mad if you dump all your work on Sparrowheart?" she prompted. Bluestream was the Medicine Cat, and pretty easy going, but it was worth a shot.

"I don't think so," Mousetail said. Their was a challenging gleam in his eye.

"Yea. They ought to be just fine with it," and their was a menacing glimmer in Whitefang's.

Well, if they were going to get nasty, Dovepelt could play that game, too. "Hmm…well…it seems to me Sparrowheart won't be free to do any of those things at the moment. He and I have an important mission to complete in the forest. Perhaps you can get off your lazy butts and do your work while we're gone. Goodbye."

She beckoned to Sparrowheart, and he darted after her with a worried glance at the three warriors.

Once they were out of sight of them, he turned to her. His eyes were brimming with gratitude. "Thanks, Dovepelt. I don't know how I'd have finished all that in one day!"

She sighed. "No problem, Sparrowheart."

Dovepelt dove on the mouse and killed it with one swift bite to the neck. Blacktail looked on with a surprising feeling of pride.

His sister was a true warrior- loyal, hardworking, just, honorable…all that. She was also fierce in battle and a good hunter. And he knew exactly why he was so proud of her.

When they were apprentices, maybe even kits, everyone had labeled Dovepelt as the one who would take a mate right away and spend her career making future warriors for the clan.

And it was no surprise they assumed this- she was pretty, dainty, and delicate. She hardly looked the part.

But he was proud that she proved them all wrong, and became one of the most skilled warriors in the clan.

Of course he was envious, too, but not too much. Sparrowheart always tagged along wherever she went, and she often looked worn out by him. Blacktail was just glad that their dependant brother had chosen her instead of him. That, too, was no surprise, since Dovepelt had always been the one who stood up for the weaker cats of the clans.

She was especially stung by Thornstar's unfair treatment of the cat, Shade, when they were kits.

Blacktail paused. He was startled he still remembered that day, since he hardly remembered anything about them being kits.

"You coming, Blacktail?" Dovepelt called over her shoulder. He hadn't realized it, but he'd stopped and sat down. He stood up and shook out his pelt.

"Yep. Just daydreaming a bit." she gave a weird look, as though she would expect him to daydream much. Not many cats would. He just wasn't the daydream type.

Shadowheart was hunting alone, which was how she liked it. The fodder in her clan often made her want to claw her fur out. In fact, the only cats she really and truly liked were her kin. Dovepelt was strong, Blacktail was blunt Sparrowheart was sweet. She wasn't sure how she fit in to their little triangle, but they had always included her, which she was grateful for, even if they only did it because she was their littermate.

Some of her clanmates were okay, but for the most part, her solitary hunts were her favored way to spend the day. When she crept stealthily along the forest floor, she could contemplate her life and future freely, without others' useless chatter crowding her brain.

With each kill came a sense of pride and loyalty, and each miss made her want to try harder. With other cats came other emotions fogging up her mind and brushing away those simple ones.

She knew she came off as prickly and distant to her clanmates, but that was only because they happened upon her at a bad time, or when she wanted to be alone.

But she wasn't entirely antisocial. Sometimes she was struck by an overwhelming need for company, in which case she turned to her littermates. Even Blacktail, her slightly annoying brother she always competed with, brought her relief from such a feeling.

She was surprised to find, on this hunting contemplation, that they hadn't change much since they were kits. Blacktail was still rude. Sparrowheart was still meek. Dovepelt was still bold. And she was still reclusive and constantly bickering with Blacktail.

It was funny, because when she was a kit and an apprentice, she always imagined that when she became a warrior everything would change- not just her name but her identity, her soul. She imagined she would suddenly be perfect and hunting and fighting, and suddenly crave being with her clan, and be unwavering loyal. But none of those things.

Nothing really changed but that she got to boss apprentices around. She could've sworn she wasn't that annoying when she was an apprentice.

Then she sprang on a squirrel, and her mind turned to a new topic.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER TWO:

Blacktail returned from hunting with Dovepelt just before nightfall. She mumbled something vague about her paws falling off and lumbered toward the Warriors Den. Blacktail yawned and dropped the two mice he caught in the fresh-kill pile.

Sparrowheart was sharing tongues with Bluestream, the Medicine Cat, across the camp. Blacktail narrowed his eyes. If you asked him, his brother was a little too close with the she-cat. Maybe he should remind Sparrowheart not to pad after cats forbidden by StarClan to take a mate.

Blacktail started toward them, then decided not to spoil his good time. He'd just have to keep an eye on them. He was probably just being paranoid anyway.

Instead he picked out a starling for himself and trotted over to where Stonetail and his another warrior, Rabbitwhisker, were sharing a large chaffinch.

"Can I join you two?" he asked.

"Sure," Rabbitwhisker said. She was generally a rather gray-tempered she-cat, and she looked uncharacteristically happy.

"What's going on?" he asked curiously.

Stonetail beamed. "Rabbitwhisker's just found out that she's having my kits!" he exclaimed. "Can you believe it?"

"Wow, that's great." he said, surprised. When he was a young apprentice, Stonetail had a different mate, Honeyfur. She died in a fierce border battle with MoorClan, however. It took him a while to get over her, and Rabbitwhisker, a long time friend, consoled him.

After a moment of silence, in which Blacktail tried to think of something else to say, they got up. "Rabbitwhisker has to get her rest. See you in the morning, Blacktail."

He sighed as they padded off, and gazed up at Silverpelt, twinkling above. He was suddenly curious if Honeyfur, watching over them, was jealous of Rabbitwhisker. What was it like to be in StarClan, able to view the activities of loved ones but unable to do anything about it?

Didn't sound very good to Blacktail.

-x-

The next day, Blacktail was woken by a sharp paw being shoved in his side, rousing him from a blurry dream where Honeyfur was hissing something at him, but no matter what he did, he couldn't quiet make out what she was saying.

The owner of the sharp paw was Shadowstream. As usual, his sleek-pelted sister looked gloomy and bored. "Wake up, already! Stonetail wants you to go on a patrol with Sparrowheart and Bluestream."

He pricked his ears. "Bluestream? Why's she coming?"

"Gathering herbs or some other medicine-y thing. Come on, get up!" she hauled him to his paws.

"Okay, okay, I'm up! For the love of StarClan!" he grumbled. She shot him a look and trotted out to join a different patrol.

Blacktail stretched and padded out the den. Sparrowheart and Bluestream were sitting side-by-side. She laughed softly at something he said. Blacktail hissed faintly as he walked up to them.

"Hey, guys. What's, um, happening?" he said suspiciously.

Bluestream smiled innocently. "Nothing much, Blacktail. Ready to go?"

He nodded, and the three of them set off. He observed them shrewdly, and his worst suspicions were confirmed. His shy brother normally would have followed Blacktail himself around everywhere, too timid to try and make friends with other clan members. But today he playfully pounced around Bluestream, doing silly things and making her giggle loudly.

Blacktail mimed gagging onto his paws.

Finally, after what seemed like the longest patrol of his entire life, they returned to camp.

"I've got to sort these herbs now. See you, Sparrowheart." she paused. "Oh, and you too, Blacktail." she leaned in and whispered something to Sparrowheart, and padded off to her den.

Sparrowheart grinned dreamily. Blacktail growled.

"Sparrowheart, don't you think that you and Bluestream are getting a little to close?" he said roughly. He obviously had to shake some sense into this cat.

He frowned. "Too close? I don't know what you mean," he said.

"Oh, I think you do. Listen, Sparrowheart. You're my brother, and I think it's great that you found such a good friend, but you have to understand that that's all she can be. A friend. Right?"

"You're making things up, Blacktail. Of course we're just friends. She's a Medicine Cat."

"Good. Just making sure." Sparrowheart nodded, then walked away, looking slightly miffed.

Blacktail was still quite suspicious.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER THREE

Dovepelt glanced at the sky as her brothers padded into camp. Thick, angry gray clouds were gathering in the sky. The storm would be breaking soon.

As if in agreement with her, a drizzle of raindrops began to fall on her head. She heard several loud groans from her clanmates, who began trudging into their dens.

Dovepelt wondered randomly if MoorClan cats, who lived entirely out in the open, always caught colds when it rained. The thought amused her vaguely.

She was startled out of her amusement by a loud clap of thunder. A kit in the nursery cried out fearfully. Blacktail padded over to Dovepelt looking gloomy.

"Great. What a lovely cap to an already awesome day!" he said glumly.

"Cheer up, Blacktail." she said, offering him a smile. He scowled.

"Why should I? All that-" he was cut off suddenly by a shout at the camp entrance.

Stonetail raced into camp, his fur already slicked back by rain. It began pouring harder, and another clap of thunder rocked the sky.

"What's going on, Stonetail?" Thornstar emerged reluctantly from his den.

Stonetail looked hysterical. "You've got to help! Rabbitwhisker twisted her leg in a rabbit hole and she can't walk!"

"Calm down, Stonetail." he said. "Sparrowheart, and Blacktail, accompany Bluestream and Stonetail to Rabbitwhisker at once."

Blacktail gave Dovepelt a wide-eyed glance before darting off after the other three cats.

-x-

Sparrowheart raced to keep up with Stonetail, who was blazing through the rain as though sped by StarClan themselves. Beside him, Bluestream brushed against him, keeping pace with him. Blacktail pulled ahead of them, which Sparrowheart was grateful for.

He and Bluestream had been involved for a couple moons now, and he didn't want his nosy brother messing things up. He knew it was against the warrior code, but frankly, he couldn't care less. He was in love with her.

Soon they reached the spot where Rabbitwhisker was lying on her side, moaning. Stonetail ran to her side and began licking her face quickly.

Sparrowheart blinked rain from his eyes as he stared at them. He suspected that Stonetail was overreacting, but he could understand why. He must be scared that he would lose another mate unexpectedly, the way he had Honeyfur.

Bluestream dropped a bundle of herbs and rushes on the ground beside Rabbitwhisker, and gently shifted her foot out of the hole. She groaned loudly.

"She's in pain!" Stonetail gasped. "Can't you give her anything?" Bluestream nodded calmly.

"I'll give her thyme for shock, and then I'll bind the leg with rushes. Just relax, Stonetail. If you relax, so will she."

Bluestream worked efficiently and quickly, and before long she'd bound the leg. "Okay, now, Stonetail and Blacktail, help me support her. We need to get her back to camp right now."

As Stonetail and Blacktail supported her, Bluestream fell into step beside Sparrowheart. "Hey," he said, smiling. "Good job back there."

"Thanks," she said. Her smile was radiant, and her blue-gray fur was lovely even slicked with rain.

"Maybe we could meet back here later, if it stops raining," he said shyly.

"Why not?" she said, laughing. "Or tomorrow, if it's still pouring tonight."

"Okay," he said, a warm flush of happiness in his stomach.

"Oh!" she called out suddenly. "Wait just a second everyone. I need-" she was cut off by another blast of thunder.

"I need to get my herbs! I forgot them by the rabbit hole," she headed back over there. Sparrowheart watched her fondly.

Suddenly, a flash of lightening split the night, sizzling the air, stabbing his eyes with its brightness.

It struck the tree just above Bluestream. She shrieked loudly and stared at it, her blue eyes wide, frozen with terror.

Sparrowheart watched in shock as the blazing tree cracked and creaked and fell, rushing through the air, and toppling down inches from the four warriors.

Bluestream and Rabbitwhisker screamed. Bluestream's shriek was cut off abruptly, but Rabbitwhisker's turned to a wail.

"Oh, dear StarClan," Stonetail gasped.

"Bluestream!" Sparrowheart yowled. He threw himself at the blaze, determined to find her and pull her out. Blacktail yelped and pounced on him, pinning him down.

"She's gone, Sparrowheart. It's too late."

-x-

Back at camp, the rain had quieted down to a steady, dull rainfall. Sparrowheart stared hollowly at his littermates. Blacktail couldn't believe what had happened, even after explaining it to both Dovepelt and Shadowstream.

Dovepelt was grooming her brother soothingly. Shadowstream looked as shocked as Blacktail felt. He'd wanted Bluestream and Sparrowheart to separate, but not like this.

"I can't believe it…" Sparrowheart said, his voice sounding painfully empty. "I just can't believe it."

"She's in StarClan now," Dovepelt said quietly.

"Yea, Sparrowheart. She's watching over you." Blacktail said uncertainly.

He looked at Blacktail dully. "I loved her, Blacktail. I really did."

"I know. I know." he rested his tail on his brother's shoulders.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FOUR:

Shade stood on the border between WoodClan and the human territory.

The tom cat was only a few seasons older than the last time he'd stood here, but it felt to him like a million moons had gone by.

He was still angry at the clans. At first he'd just wanted to attack them mindlessly, ripping them to shreds, making them see that he was just as good- no, better- than them.

But he realized that was foolish long ago, and he had a plan now. Oh yes, he had a plan. A good plan.

He learned the hard way that you couldn't depend on anyone for anything. You couldn't come to someone and be submissive, pleading for mercy. You had to assert yourself, show them that you were bigger and meaner and tougher than them. Which is what he did.

After he left the clans, he realized that the mere idea of clans was foolish. A bunch of cats who glommed off each other shamelessly. And yet even the fools turned him down.

So he toughened up. He learned a thing or two about street living. He was feared on the streets now. The street cats respected him. They were part of his plan, now. They were good, strong cats. Not stronger than him, of course. And they respected him. They would do what he told them to.

He surveyed the wooded territory with hatred. His lips curled back in a snarl. He was repulsed by both the clans and the memory of what he had once been.

He had grown, inside and out. He was muscular and menacing, his brown-black fur well-groomed. He was no longer the pathetic, hungry kit who wandered haplessly into the clans that fateful day. He _knew_ things now. He knew how to hunt. He knew how to fight. He had made a name for himself among the rogues on the streets.

And that name wasn't Shade. His true name, the one his mother gave him, reminded him of a time when he was weak, and soft. A time when he depended on others for everything. That wasn't him anymore.

Shade believed in happy memories, good times, and kindness. He foolishly thought that all cats were good at heart. He was a stupid kit, a tiny, pathetic kit.

He wasn't Shade anymore. He was wiser now. He was a new cat. And he gave himself a new name.

He called himself what the four clans, especially WoodClan, would soon feel.

Wrath. He called himself Wrath.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER FIVE

Sparrowheart still couldn't quite believe that Bluestream was gone.

It was just too unfair. StarClan had taken a cat from him before- his father, Darkpelt, slipped off a rock in a battle with StormClan, and fell into the vast lake. He was never found.

But Bluestream was so young, and lovely, and gentle. She didn't deserve this. And what if it was his fault? What if StarClan had been angry with her for breaking the warrior code?

To help him sort out his thoughts, he took to taking long walks through the territory, just walking, thinking, and hunting. He also took great comfort in his sister, Dovepelt, and hung around her as much as he could. She was so patient with him.

Today he was pacing around the WoodClan-MoorClan border. He gazed at the ground, where the fresh green grass leveled out to long, feathery moorland grass. Their territory was so wide and open. In the distance, he could even make out the dark figures of two cats racing across the moor, no doubt in search of prey.

Blacktail pretended to be sympathetic. But Sparrowheart knew he was disgusted with him. His brother was so proud. He considered anyone not in WoodClan- kittypets, rogues, loners, cats from other clans, even- beneath him in some way. And he was strict on the warrior code, too. Sparrowheart had broken the code, and also broken any respect he might have had from his brother.

Torn up over this, unable to catch any prey, Sparrowheart returned to camp empty-handed and grim, his speckled brown pelt full of burrs.

Blacktail was sharing tongues with Dovepelt by the fresh-kill pile. Shadowstream padded over to them as he watched, plopping down wearily with a mouse in her jaws.

Sparrowheart realized suddenly that it was well past sunhigh. Almost a whole day gone by and not one piece of prey to show for it. He flushed.

Dovepelt spotted him and waved him over cheerfully. She always tried to be cheery and bright around him, as if excreting enough happiness for both of them would somehow make everything all better.

He padded forward, skirting the fresh-kill pile guiltily. His belly grumbled in protest as he sat down, but he ignored it. It wasn't honorable to take prey when you had caught none, and he hoped that this display would be noticed by Blacktail.

Dovepelt gave him a sympathetic glance. "Didn't catch anything today, Sparrowheart?"

"Nope." he glanced at his brother.

"I don't understand why you go out on those pointless walks, Sparrowheart," he said, picking at his chaffinch. "All you do is work yourself up, have a pity party, and come home without contributing one bit to the clan. At least Shadowstream actually _catches_ prey when she walks."

Dovepelt glared at him. "Ease up, Blacktail." she hissed.

"What?" he asked. The sad part was he really didn't get it.

"You don't understand, Blacktail. You've never been in love," Sparrowheart said angrily, staring at his paws.

"I understand enough, Sparrowheart. You broke the warrior code, and now you're wallowing in self-pity because it ended badly. Just because I'm not head-over-paws sympathetic for you and your little she-cat friend doesn't mean I somehow lack understanding." he was spitting mad by the end of his spiel.

Dovepelt glared at him. "Shut up, Blacktail! You're way out of line." Shadowstream just glanced furtively from Blacktail to Sparrowheart, her eyes wide.

Sparrowheart just gaped at his brother. "I can't believe you, Blacktail. I…" he trailed off, then stood up and strode away.

"Where are you going, Sparrowheart?" Dovepelt called out worriedly.

"On a walk," he said angrily, not bothering to turn around. He was shocked and angry, and a walk away from all his troubles in the clan seemed like icy water on a hot day.

"It's getting dark!" Dovepelt shouted. He seemed to not have heard, and his brown figure disappeared out the camp entrance.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SIX

After Sparrowheart left the camp, he ran, blinded by rage and sorrow, not really sure exactly where he was going. All of his emotions were welling up at once, making his stomach ache dully and frustrating him.

He focused on the steady thud of his paws on the soft green grass, and nothing else. Trees, bushes, ferns- it all blurred past Sparrowheart as he ran, on and on, ignoring his exhaustion and his emotions. Finally, he came to a halt after almost crashing into a tree.

He was at the WoodClan-StormClan border. Through the ferns, he could see the sandy shore of the vast lake marking the edge of the clans' territory. The lake was so enormous, he couldn't even see what lay beyond. If he shifted the ferns slightly, he could just barely make out the large cave, which broke off into tunnels, that was StormClan's camp. And there was the slippery edge his father had slipped off during the battle seasons ago.

He glanced up at the dark sky. It was getting late, and the new-leaf nights were still cold. Sparrowheart shivered, spotting the moon glowing dully among faint, tiny stars. One of them was Bluestream. He could imagine her, even more beautiful, with dozens of stars caught in her blue-gray pelt.

Suddenly, he scented the wild, fishy tang that marked a StormClan cat. He crouched low in the grass, squinting. There! Only rabbit-lengths away from the border was a StormClan warrior, stalking a squirrel.

The fern patch was the border marker, but there was still a bit of field and grass in StormClan before it trailed into sand and mud. The StormClan warrior crept closer to the squirrel, hiding in the grass, her belly low to the ground. She was a graceful-looking she-cat, a dark gray tabby, but her hunting technique seemed a little shabby. If you asked him, StormClan should stick to fishing.

She pounced a moment too late, landing on a patch of grass. The squirrel took off, fleeing directly toward WoodClan territory. Just as Sparrowheart suspected she would, she chased after it, grinning as the wind flattened her fur back. And then she chased the squirrel through the ferns and across the border.

A surge of misdirected anger jolted through him. He growled loudly and sprang on her, pinning her down. The squirrel disappeared up a tree.

"Hey!" the she-cat gasped. "What're you doing?"

"I was just about to ask the same thing," he hissed. "This is WoodClan territory! Explain yourself!"

Her eyes widened.

-x-

Shadowstream was dreaming.

She always knew when it was a dream and when it was reality, no matter how vivid it was.

In this one, she was standing on the WoodClan-MoorClan border, gazing at the calm, tall grasses. A soft wind was rustling the grass and sweeping up her fur. She squinted against the wind, gazing up at the sky. The sun glimmered above, casting orange hazy light over everything.

Suddenly, her paws lifted, and she was running across the moor, deep into MoorClan territory, faster and faster. No, she wasn't running…she was gliding, hovering a little above the thick yellow-white grass.

She passed the shallow land basin where MoorClan made their camp, watching the dark cats mill around for a moment, but unable to make any of them out. Then she was on the move again, gliding further, until she was beyond their territory marker, the row of large boulders.

She glided over the boulders effortlessly. Beyond them lay a lush green field, not a moor, dotted with flowers and rimmed with trees. The clans had not explored this place- in fact, she hadn't even known it existed. Of course, it probably didn't; this was, after all, a dream. She settled down in the center of the field, touching down on the land for the first time. The grass was soft and plush feeling.

A great feeling of calm washed over her as soon as did. An immense relaxation drifted over her, refreshing her like mist. Suddenly, a cat appeared between the trees, padding toward Shadowstream slowly.

"Bluestream?" she gasped. "Is it you?"

"Yes, Shadowstream. See this field?"

"Sure, yeah. It's a real nice place." she was sleepy all of the sudden.

"Pay attention, Shadowstream. This is very important. This field is important."

"Why?"

"A great darkness is coming to your clan, to all the clans. But fear not, for you will have a savior. And he will come from this field. StarClan wishes me to tell you this. But…"

Shadowstream cocked her head. "But what?"

"They have not told me to say this, but there is something I must tell you, Shadowstream. But…it is hard for me to say. As a warrior of StarClan, I am supposed to enforce the warrior code. I must deliver words of wisdom to the cats of my clan who still walk this earth. Words that support the code."

Shadowstream paused. She wasn't sure she understood everything the she-cat was saying, but it was clear she was conflicted.

"Listen. A change will come to your life soon. You will have to make a choice, and it will be even harder than the one I had to make with Sparrowheart. You may not understand now, but you will later. And the choice you make…it will affect not just you, but your littermates and your clan.

"I should tell you to choose them over yourself. I should say that the other choice is selfish and inconsiderate. But I can't…I just can't. I made the choice you will have to make soon…and it made me happy. So all I can say is that…" she trailed off.

Shadowstream was puzzled. "What, Bluestream?"

"Please, just choose what you believe in your heart to be right. Do not choose for any other reason. You will only make yourself miserable."

"I understand," Shadowstream said, even though she really didn't.

"And, please…tell Sparrowheart I love him still." her eyes glistened faintly.

"I will, of course. But…why me, Bluestream? Why not Thornstar, or your apprentice, Mousewhisker? Or even Stonetail? Why tell me such important things?"

"You will see," she said, in that irritatingly cryptic StarClan way. "But until your time of great change, we trust you will keep this a secret. Most of your clanmates are not ready to know about the darkness coming." Bluestream started to back up, weaving gracefully despite walking backwards.

"_Most_ of my clanmates? Does that mean I can tell my littermates?" she hoped the answer was yes. Her littermates had never kept secrets from each other before Sparrowheart's affair with Bluestream. And look how that had torn them apart. Her littermates were all she had, and she didn't want secrets and deception to come between them even further. Sparrowheart's lies and secrets had already driven a wedge between him and Blacktail.

Bluestream paused for just a moment, thinking. "Yes, I suppose you can tell them. But they must keep it a secret!"

The fierceness of her words got Shadowstream thinking. "Bluestream, does StarClan _really_ know that you're telling me all of this? Did they _really_ tell you to come talk to me?"

Bluestream's eyes twinkled in response, and then she faded away steadily until Shadowstream was alone in the field, her head filled with questions.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER SEVEN

Sparrowheart glared at the StormClan she-cat. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself, trespasser?" he demanded.

"Dude, chill," she said, giving him an incredulous look from her bright green eyes. "I barely cross the border line. I'm not a trespasser, I'm a hunter. Although not a very good one, at least not on land." she grinned. His scowl faltered.

He sighed and released her. "Well, okay. I guess I overreacted a bit."

"A bit?" her eyes widened again, but this time the affect was comical. "A bit? You practically shredded me just now! I suppose you're a 'shred now, ask questions later' sort of cat, eh?"

"No, that's my brother, Blacktail."

She paused, then nodded. "Oh, I've heard of him. The tom that always mouths off to everyone?"

"That would be him, yes." Sparrowheart said, laughing in spite of himself. The she-cat smiled.

"It's obvious something's bothering you. What's wrong?"

"I got in a fight with my brother. You know, Blacktail. It's complicated." he was surprised at how easy it was to tell this stranger about his troubles. Easier, in fact, than explaining it to a clanmate. That was the beauty of strangers- they had nothing to judge you by. You could be whoever you wanted to them. You could tell a stranger a personal secret, and they wouldn't know any of the cats you were talking about.

"Too bad," she said. "I hate to fight with my sister." She gave him a sympathetic glance.

"This fight was different. It was bad. He was really mad at me, and I hardly understand why. And now…"

"And now what?" she prompted.

"And now I don't know how I'm going to face him tomorrow."

"Easy," she said. "No matter how big the fight, an apology will help fix it, if not mend things altogether. But it has to be sincere. And then one way or another, fate will join you two again. It has to. You're blood. You're joined by something deeper than StarClan's forces."

Sparrowheart blinked. "You really think so?"

She nodded solemnly. "I _know_ so. Things will be okay between you two, as long as someone takes that first step and says 'I'm sorry.' And it looks like it's going to have to be you."

He nodded. "Thanks for that. I feel a lot better now." and it was true. It was like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He felt energized again- by hope instead of anger, this time.

"Well, I suppose I ought to be getting back to my side of the border now, hmm?" she said abruptly. "My sister will be wondering where in StarClan I am!" Sparrowheart glanced up at the now full-fledged night sky.

"Yeah," he said softly, thinking about blue-furred cats and stars. She turned and started padding away.

"Wait!" he called out, suddenly remembering something. "What's your name?"

She paused, cocking her head. "What does it matter?"

Sparrowheart flicked his ears. "It just does. Mine is Sparrowheart."

"Sparrowheart, hmm?" she said, as if trying out the sounds in her own voice. "I'm Brightflower."

"Oh. Goodnight, Brightflower."

"'Night."

She trotted away, speeding up once she was across the border, racing toward the distant caves. For some reason, Sparrowheart was sort of disappointed to see her go.

-x-

Shadowstream woke from her dream with a start. She glanced around, blue eyes wide, and realized with a stroke of embarrassment that she'd fallen asleep in the middle of camp, by the fresh-kill pile.

"Finally up, sleepyhead?" Gingerwhisker remarked as she passed by, heading for the warriors den.

_Real witty, Gingerwhisker, _Shadowstream thought. She stretched, then remembered her dream's importance suddenly.

She glanced around for her littermates, but she didn't see any of them. In fact, hardly anyone was awake. No wonder, it was almost moonhigh. No matter the importance of her StarClan dream, it could wait until morning. She yawned, and padded toward the den.

-x-

Blacktail was woken from his sleep by the sound of someone entering the den. It was the second time that had happened. The first time, it was Shadowstream. Now…it was Sparrowheart, padding into his nest looking exhausted. A guilty twinge pricked Blacktail's stomach, and he feigned sleep.

He hadn't been able to get much sleep anyway. He was too guilty.

He knew now that he had been way, way out of line. At the time, the words had simply come pouring out, a bad expression of all the chaotic emotions he'd been feeling since Bluestream died- Anger, fear, worry, sympathy, but mostly confusion.

Blacktail understood why his brother had fallen for Bluestream- she was beautiful, sweet, gentle, kind…but at the same time, he had no idea why he'd done what he'd done. She was a _medicine cat_. She was _forbidden to take a mate_. What part of that hadn't gotten through to his brother? And then he makes up this bullshit about 'being in love…' The code was made for a reason. Ordinary cats like his brother and him weren't meant to understand the why, only to follow it. Without the code, they might as well be rogues or kittypets.

But that was still no excuse for the things he said to his brother. Sparrowheart was grieving still, and probably would be for a long time yet, and he'd pushed him too far.

All these guilty thoughts were keeping him from getting a decent night's sleep. It was obvious all he was going to do was lie awake. Might as well get some exercise.

After making sure Sparrowheart was fast asleep, Blacktail got up and crept out of the den, heading for the camp entrance. He passed Mousetail, on sentry duty, gave him a nod, then headed out into the nighttime forest.

He didn't often go on nightly walks, so he'd forgotten how different everything was. At night, a fern's shadow could be a pouncing enemy, a mouse rustling leaves could be a pack of hungry foxes, and the wind sweeping through the trees was creeping, not refreshing.

But still, there was appeal the night forest. The moon was pulsing light over the woods, casting everything in lovely silver. The stars glimmered reassuringly above. And the night air, especially, invigorated him and made him want to race through the wind until he was so tired he couldn't run another pawstep.

So he did.

Blacktail ran through the night, grinning and letting all his problems waft away through his fur like the wind. Unfortunately, he had to stop, since he reached the border between WoodClan and the twolegplace. He clambered up onto a rock and stared through the trees at the pretty forest, imagining he was Blackstar, leader of WoodClan, like he did when he was a kit.

Suddenly he detected a foreign scent. He sniffed the air, then sniffed the rock. Yes, it was all over the rock. It smelled like shadows and uncertainty- certainly no clan cat's scent. He jumped off the rock and started a few pawsteps down the trail, not yet past the border.

A bush rustled loudly beside him. That was no tiny shrew in there. Right next to him was a cat, he was sure, maybe even the one that left the malevolent mystery scent. He crept slowly toward the bush, hoping to take the intruder by surprise.

He peered through the low-hanging leaves of a weeping willow right beside the bush, trying to catch a glimpse of the cat.

Finally! There it was!

Blacktail exhaled, disappointed. It was just a kittypet, reeking of twolegs. Just a curious kittypet.

He gazed on as she leaned in closer to a plant, watching as a drop of dew fell down the narrow leaf and dangled from the tip.

"Oh…" she said softly, smiling with delight as it caught the moonlight prettily. She laid down underneath the plant to observe it better.

Blacktail stepped forward and growled loudly.

"Oh!" she gasped, startled. She brought her head up suddenly, cascading a load of dew on her head. She blinked the drops from her eyes, and whirled around. She had sleek, short dark tabby fur and dark green eyes. The fur on her head was damp with dewdrops. Blacktail struggled to keep a straight face, but just for a moment.

"Who are you?" she said accusingly. Her voice was soft and high-pitched at the same time. There was something in her stance that Blacktail didn't like- she looked awfully territorial and aggressive, since _she_ was the trespasser.

"I was just about to ask the same thing. Why don't you go first, since _you're_ the kittypet trespasser here, not me," he hissed. She raised her eyebrows.

"The name's Juliet. And someone's a bit cranky today, aren't they?" she said. Blacktail flattened his ears to his head.

"Maybe I just don't like kittypets. Ever thought of that?"

"Well, if you're a clan cat, I don't think I like clan cats very much."

Blacktail scowled. "Look, can't you just get off my territory? I've had a long day and I really don't want to deal with you right now."

"Too bad. I don't believe in territory."

"You don't…_believe_ in territory? What's that supposed to mean?" Blacktail was developing a pounding headache.

"I don't believe that earth and nature can belong to any one cat, or any group of cats. It was made for all to enjoy, so why should you or I be entitled to owning a part of it? I don't know who made it, or where they might be, but it seems to me that _they_ can own it, and no one else. Give me one good reason why you deserve this land, and I'll be on my merry way." she sat down and wrapped her tail around her legs.

Blacktail was just about at the end of his rope. "Okay. Here's a good reason. I have two front paws. At the end of those paws are two sets of claws. They would hurt very much if they raked across your face. The end."

Juliet sighed. "You didn't hear a word I just said, did you?" she looked disappointed. "Sometimes cats make me so sad."

"You think _you're _sad? Really? My brother's forbidden lover just died, causing us to get into a huge fight, and now we're no longer talking, even though we've been close since we were kits. And _you're_ sad?"

Juliet paused and thought for a moment. Then she said, "Don't worry. I know exactly what you need. Meet me here tomorrow when the sun is at the top of the sky. I've got something to show you."

For some reason, StarClan knows why, he agreed. Then she dipped her head in a slightly mocking way and started to walk away, toward the twolegplace.

"So that's it?" Blacktail said, confused.

She turned around. "What's it?"

"You don't even know my name, you know."

"Who needs names?" she asked.

"I do. I need names."

"Well, obviously. But I don't. In the great scheme of things, what is a name?"

And then she bounded into the shadows.


	9. Chapter 9

_**CHAPTER EIGHT**_

_**Shadowstream didn't wake until it was almost sunhigh. She was stunned to find this out, firstly because she'd have expected one of her lazy clanmates to wake her up to patrol in their place, and second because she was still very tired. **_

_**She'd spent all of her dreams running across MoorClan, trying to scale the boulder rows and find her way back the field, but no matter how far she ran, the boulders kept growing farther and farther away, like she was running backwards. When she woke, her legs ached, and she was parched. Talk about your vivid dream. **_

_**She stopped by the Medicine Den to get a drink of water. Mousewhisker, Bluestream's apprentice, looked frightfully new at his job. He'd still been Mousepaw when his mentor died, and he just a few nights ago got his warrior name, during the half-moon Medicine Cat meeting. **_

_**In the middle of contemplating what the inexperienced Medicine Cat might mean for WoodClan, she remembered her dream. Her secret StarClan dream she could only tell her littermates about. **_

_**Immediately she scanned the clearing for them. Sparrowheart and Dovepelt were sitting across from each other, sharing tongues. Blacktail was nowhere to be found. She padded over to her brother and sister tensely.**_

"_**Hey, Shadowstream," Sparrowheart said. He looked happier than he had in days.**_

"_**What's with all the cheer over here?" Shadowstream asked. Dovepelt grinned. **_

"_**Blacktail and Sparrowheart made up, thank StarClan. I hate us fighting." she purred. **_

"_**And I hate all the drama. I hope things will just get uncomplicated from now on," Sparrowheart sighed. **_

_**Shadowstream paused. "Don't count on that."**_

_**Dovepelt and Sparrowheart gazed at her quizzically.**_

"_**I have something to tell all of you, but since Blacktail isn't here, we'll have to tell him later. Let's go somewhere private, okay?" she led them out of camp and into the forest, scanning around until she found a quiet clearing. Her littermates sat and curled their tails around their legs. **_

"_**So what news is so important that you had to drag us into the forest?" Dovepelt asked. **_

_**Shadowstream took a deep breath. "I had a dream from StarClan." Dovepelt and Sparrowheart's eyes widened predictably. "First I glided beyond MoorClan, then over the boulder rows, into this field. And you'll never guess who I met in that field." she didn't wait for them to guess, she just said it. "Bluestream."**_

_**Sparrowheart's eyes flickered with pain. Shadowstream sighed. Sometimes Sparrowheart's emotions could be taxing. "She said she still loves you, Sparrowheart. But the other stuff she said is much**_** more interesting."**

"**What?" Dovepelt asked, looking excited. **

"**She told me that a great darkness was coming to the clans, and that our savior would come from the field. Then, she said that I would have to make a choice harder than the one she made with you, Sparrowheart. And she gave me some advice I didn't understand…"**

"**Go on, don't leave us hanging!" Dovepelt said. **

"**Then she said that I had to keep it all a secret for a while, and I could only tell you two and Blacktail."**

"**I wonder why?" Sparrowheart said. **

"**I don't know. But I don't think StarClan knows that she talked to me. She was awfully secretive."**

**Dovepelt didn't seem as intrigued by this as Shadowstream was. "So how long do I have to keep this secret? When can the clan know about this 'great darkness' and our 'savior?' "**

**Shadowstream shrugged. "She kept talking about 'a time of great change' or something, so I guess then we can tell everyone."**

"**Wow," Dovepelt said. "We've got to find Blacktail, now."**

**Shadowstream frowned. "Where is Blacktail, anyway?" **

**-x-**

**When it was nearly sunhigh, Blacktail excused himself from his littermates and headed into the forest, trying to remember the excited route he had taken yesterday. Before long, he found himself at the rock along the border. The strange scent was faint now, so faint that Blacktail didn't even notice it. **

**When he padded through the weeping willow's leaves and into the clearing, he saw Juliet sitting and contemplating the same plant she'd been admiring the night before. **

"**Hey, Juliet?" he called out softly, not wanting to startle her again. Regardless, she jumped dramatically and whirled around. **

"**Oh, it's just you." she relaxed. **

"**Gee, thanks."**

**She ignored him. "Why is it that everything looks different at night?"**

"**Because it's darker?" he guessed. She shook her head with a sigh. **

"**Probably not. Come on, we've got a long way to walk if we're going to get their before nightfall." she turned and padded out the clearing. Blacktail ran to catch up with her. **

**As they walked along a thunder path, a thought other than 'we're going to get run over by a monster' entered his head. **

"**You do realize that you still don't know my name, right? I could be a murderer, for all you know."**

"**A name isn't who you are. I know your essence, and I doubt you're a psycho **_**or **_**a murderer. You're essence is what matters, not a name."**

"**Names are important," Blacktail argued. "Names tell you something about the cat."**

"**No they don't. At the very least, they tell you something about the parent or the housefolk. Not the cat itself."**

"**Yes, because if they didn't like their name, they would change it."**

"**Then it tells you something about who they **_**want **_**to be, not who they actually are." Juliet spoke while staring straight ahead, never making eye contact. **

"**That doesn't change the fact that you don't know my name, does it?"**

**She sighed loudly. "Okay, I'll bite. What's your name?"**

"**Blacktail."**

**Juliet rolled her eyes. "Original."**

**Blacktail flicked his ears. "The clans have a special naming system." and then he proceeded to tell her about 'kit' and 'paw' and getting your warrior name. **

"**I see. So names serve a practical purpose. Sounds like the clans. Everything always so practical."**

"**You're missing the point," Blacktail said, exasperated. **

"**What point? Your name didn't tell me anything that I couldn't find out just by looking at you. Names are just opinions, that's all. Besides, I don't like that name. Blacktail. It's boring."**

"**Fine then. You think up a better name."**

"**Not a better name. Just one that **_**I**_** like better. That doesn't mean it **_**is**_** better. But if you insist…" she contemplated it, glancing at Blacktail from time to time. **

"**Okay, I've got it," she said. "Darki. Your new name is Darki."**

"**Darki? How is that better?" **

"**Did I say it would be better? No, I didn't. I said **_**I**_** would like it better. It's all in perspective, Darki." her tone was as serious and deadpanned as ever, but her dark green eyes glittered with amusement. **

**Blacktail sighed. "Okay, fine. Where are we going, anyway?" he asked this just as they turned off the thunder path and into a plain of dry, scratchy grass. **

"**The Spirit Rock. It's where I go to think."**

"**What's at the Spirit Rock?"**

**She paused. "Everything," she decided. **

"**Okay…but what, specifically? Like…food or water?" he was hopeful.**

"**There's lots of mice, but I never eat them. I don't know how to hunt."**

**Blacktail gasped. "You don't know how to hunt? Then how do you get food?"**

"**My twoleg, of course. That's also where I get water and a place to sleep."**

**Despite her strong twoleg scent, Blacktail had quite forgotten she was a kittypet. He tried to picture her curled in a foul-smelling blanket, or lounging in a garden, but couldn't. "Why don't you become a rogue, Juliet? I think you would like it better."**

"**Didn't I just say that I can't hunt? I can't fight, either, and I don't really want to learn how. I'm fine with my life." she sighed. **

"**Alright, if you say so. When-"**

"**Shut up. We're here now." **

**Sprawling ahead of them was an enormous red rock. It was only when they clambered up on top of its warm, rough surface that he noticed they had come to the top of a cliff. The ground simply fell away in front of them, revealing a stunning landscape: A range of grassy green mountains with sprawling plains at the base, dotted with small forests and several lakes, and running through everything, connecting all the lakes and touching all the forests, was a long river that looked thin as a silver blade of grass from where they were.**

"**Wow." Blacktail couldn't think of another word to describe it. Everything was bathed in thick golden sunshine, faint shadows smudged on the plain's grasses. **

"**Yeah." Juliet settled down on her stomach, curling her tail. Blacktail followed suit. "I named all these places when I was a kit." she gazed at them, surveying them as a conqueror surveyed his lands. "But I can't remember the names."**

"**You came up here when you were a kit?" Blacktail was stunned. He tried to imagine a protective clan allowing their kits to roam around freely. He couldn't.**

"**I went everywhere when I was a kit."**

"**Really?"**

"**No. But it felt like it. The world was lot bigger when I was a kit. It's shrank."**

"**No, you just got bigger." Blacktail said, insisting on a bit of logic, even here. "So why did you call it Spirit Rock?"**

"**My mother, Teardrop, was a storyteller. She told me dozens of stories about everything. When she took me up here, she told me a story she swore was true. It was about a great hero called Queta. When Queta needed to talk to the spirits of the earth about an something important, she came to this rock and they appeared to her. So I called it the Spirit Rock. My mother liked that."**

"**Is that how you knew about the clans? From your mother's stories?"**

"**Yes. She was the best storyteller. My littermates and I always loved to hear her stories, and Queta's story was my favorite. I wanted to be just like Queta- strong and fearless and exploring everywhere, saving everyone."**

"**Do you still want that? To be like Queta?"**

"**No." she looked at her paws.**

"**Why not?"**

"**Because I forgot the stories." she squeezed her eyes together. "And if I can't remember the stories, then I can't remember Queta. Only the idea of her, which isn't real the way she was real. And my mother can't tell them anymore."**

"**I'm sure she would if you just asked her…" Blacktail didn't understand why, but she looked distraught suddenly.**

"**No. She can't because she's dead. All of them are dead. I'm the only one left. I had to leave my home and find a new one and then I didn't have anyone to tell me stories or to listen to me tell stories, so I forgot them all. And I made new ones and forgot them too, because I had no one to listen."**

**Blacktail hesitantly wrapped his tail around her shoulders. "I'll listen, if you want."**

**She raised her head, and met his gaze for the first time. Her eyes were like thick evening forests right after it rains. Then she smiled. "Sounds good to me."**


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER NINE

Dovepelt, Sparrowheart, and Shadowstream were hard at work searching for their brother. It was nearly moonrise and he had still not come back from 'hunting.' Dovepelt sincerely doubted he was actually hunting, and she was beginning to wonder if he was in WoodClan territory at all. But where else could he be?

She and Sparrowheart were trekking along the StormClan border, searching by the fern patch, a common relaxation area. Shadowstream was searching solo by the twolegplace border. Already that day they'd searched the MoorClan border _and_ the Training Hollow _and_ the big clearing _and_ all his favorite hunting places, but so far they hadn't managed to pick up much of his scent.

Suddenly Sparrowheart stopped and called out. "Brightflower! Hey, Brightflower!" then he began waving his tail wildly, smiling.

Dovepelt narrowed her eyes. "Who's Brightflower?" her question was answered moments later as a grinning dark gray tabby she-cat padded over to them, smelling strongly of StormClan. Her smile faded slightly when she spotted Dovepelt, but remained intact overall.

"Hey, Sparrowheart. Who's the she-cat?" Dovepelt bristled slightly at her tone.

"This is Dovepelt. She's my sister. Dovepelt, this is Brightflower. She's the one who gave me the advice to apologize to Blacktail." Brightflower smiled at Dovepelt more broadly now.

"It's nice to meet you. So how did things work out with your brother, anyway?"

"Great. You were right, an apology does fix everything!"

"A _sincere_ apology. The 'sincere' part is important, don't forget that."

"Right! I won't."

"Speaking of which," Dovepelt interjected loudly. "Have you by any chance seen Blacktail? We're looking for him."

"No, sorry."

"Oh. Too bad. Well, we have to go. We've gotta find him. It was nice to meet you. Let's go, Sparrowheart." Sparrowheart frowned, but said his goodbyes and followed her.

She was happy that her brother was getting over his grief, but she worried that he might be falling into his old ways again. She hoped he remembered how that worked out for him last time.

-x-

When Dovepelt and Sparrowheart returned to camp, empty-handed, they found Shadowstream sitting with Blacktail by the fresh-kill pile. As soon as she spotted them, she stood up and led Blacktail and the others out into the same quiet clearing.

"I found this mouse-brain wandering around the twolegplace border, muttering about hunting and following a squirrel too far." she said.

"What were you really doing in the twolegplace?" Dovepelt asked, curious. "You don't have any kittypet friends…in fact, you don't have any friends outside of the clan. So what's up?"

Blacktail opened his mouth hesitantly, but Shadowstream cut him off. "Who cares? The point is, I told him about my dream, and we've been trying to figure out what it means."

"I thought maybe the 'darkness' could mean some sort of storm or something like that," Blacktail said.

Dovepelt dismissed that with a shake of her head. "No, that's not a big enough for a StarClan warning to an ordinary warrior. We've just got to keep thinking."

-x-

The winds of change were stirring in the field beyond the clans. This moment was long in coming for Infinity, the cat who dwelled there alone. He could feel them always, creeping slowly like sickness, always hovering nearby and always out of reach, just out of sight.

Their fiery pelts and shadowy paws haunted his dreams, their dully lustered eyes were all he saw when he shut his own. Long, narrow snouts that ended in a gaping, sharp-toothed mouths seemed to follow him everywhere. He could sense them, in the forest, just beyond that first row of trees. Every night when he settled down to sleep he wondered if he would wake to find them surrounding him, hunger and bloodthirst rolling off them waves. Then he wondered if he would wake up at all.

Infinity knew it was only a matter of time before they took his field. It was all he had left. They had taken his woods and his home, and now they wanted him gone for good. When they came, it would be the third time his home had been snatched from him by the fire-pelted demons.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a narrow black snout. Gleaming yellow eyes followed. Infinity whirled around, his fur spiking out wildly. He unsheathed his claws as three other pairs of gleaming eyes appeared. Then three more. They had brought numbers, but they needn't have had to. Only one could have driven him out.

The foxes were unstoppable.

Once Infinity had lived with his peaceful family in a quiet forest far away. Then the foxes had come by the dozens, devouring his family and chasing him across the clans and into a new forest. Then, an hour ago, he discovered a fox in the home that had been his for such a long time. And where their was one, their were always dozens following it.

So he took to the field for the time being. He hadn't expected the fox attack, but now, as they stared at him from their bright eyes, he realized he should have expected it all along.

More foxes appeared, beginning to expose their flaming pelts. Infinity shrank away, fearful. Their stink filled his nose, making him cough. He had no choice. He had to leave his home again. He jumped over the boulders. Boulders stopped the foxes, they always did.

He didn't stop in the moors. If the foxes somehow got over the boulders, they would scale the moors easily, growing in numbers as they did. So he wandered beyond. He wanted to find the clan beside the lake, but he was too tired after his journey, and the reek of the foxes clung in his throat, making him cough. He must have fallen in dirt along the way, as his pelt was covered in powdery black stuff, hidden in his lush black pelt.

Since he was too tired to walk to the lake clan, he settled for the forest clan. He liked forests better. He settled down in a patch of thick grass, resting his head on his front legs.

Infinity shut his eyes peacefully. The foxes couldn't get him here.

-x-

Blacktail was worried, and not just because he'd kept his day with Juliet a secret. Well, that worried him too. He didn't understand why he hadn't told them about it, but there was something about her- maybe it was her sleek dark tabby pelt, or her softly glittering green eyes, or her deadpanned voice that was soft and high and the same time, but he felt like she was a special secret, and he didn't feel like telling his littermates about it just yet.

No, he had another worry on his mind. Thornstar.

He had been acting strangely lately. Sluggish and tired all the time. And he hadn't been out of his den in ages. Stonetail was taking charge, doing everything Thornstar usually did, but with a kindness the leader had never shown.

Stonetail insisted Thornstar was fine whenever a curious clanmate asked. But Blacktail wasn't so sure.

-x-

The next morning, Shadowstream was woken by Sparrowheart, Silverfur, and Blackfang leaving for a Dawn Patrol. She yawned loudly at their retreating figures, then stood up and stretched. She knew it would be near impossible to fall asleep again.

This morning, she was in a solitary mood. She left before anyone else could wake up, padding into the forest. Dew still clung to grass and leaves, shining in the morning light.

She lifted her head and stared at the sun beams wafting through the leaves. It was peaceful this morning, with the birds twittering in the trees. Then suddenly, she tripped over something warm and furry and fell on the ground.

"What in StarClan's name?" she stood up fast.

"Ow!" it was a cat. He had a fluffy black pelt and bright blue eyes with little green flecks inside them. He sat up, staring at her warily.

"Who are you? What are you doing in WoodClan?" she demanded, unsheathing her claws. She glared at him.

He shrank back instantly. "No foxes," he whimpered, flattening his ears back on his head.

Shadowstream cocked her head. "What?"

"I was attacked by foxes. Then I came here. There aren't any foxes in this forest. But the other forests I was in, they had foxes. Lots of foxes. I had to leave. They couldn't share anything with me, I had to go, I had to leave before they got me, they were getting so close…" he trailed off, panting. His eyes were wide with fright.

Shadowstream sighed. "You look really hungry."

"I am. No time to eat yesterday, had to run, run, run. No time to eat, no time to sleep, no sleep for three days…but I slept last night." he twitched slightly, scratching his ear with his front paw jerkily.

"You okay?" Shadowstream peered at the tom, looking him straight in the eyes. He flicked his ears quickly.

"Yea. Yea. I'm okay. Just hungry." he licked his lips.

She wrapped her tail around him hesitantly. "I'm Shadowstream. I'll see if I can get you something to eat."

"Okay. Okay thank you, thank you. I'm Infinity."

"Where did you live before the foxes attacked, Infinity?"

"In a field."

Shadowstream pricked her ears. "A field? Really? Where might this field be?"

"Past the moor. Past the boulders. The foxes can't get past the boulders."

Shadowstream stopped in her tracks. This was him! This was the savior! She looked him over. Hopefully he shaped up good, since he looked in pretty poor condition now.

But for now she had to be cool. He probably didn't know his destiny yet. "Oh. How did you like it?"

He looked up at the sky. "I loved it. From forest to forest to forest, eh?"

She had no idea what he was going on about. "Um, you got it. Anyway, here we are at the clan camp, where we all live. Stay here and-" but she was cut off from giving orders by Leafkit, one of Darkflower's litter, scampering up to them.

"I've never seen you before," she said in her tiny little kit's voice. "What clan are you from?"

Darkflower darted up and retrieved her kit, but not before it's shrill voice had attracted the attention of the clan.

"Fetch Thornstar!" Speckledfoot called out. "Shadowstream's brought back a stray!"

"I'm sure he'll love this one as much as the first!" another warrior called out.

Shadowstream clenched her teeth. Her leader had to let Infinity stay with them. He was the savior, for StarClan's sake! How could he save them from the unknown threat if he wasn't even with them?"

Thornstar emerged from his den, looking sick and…_old._ Really old. But he managed to stand up and walk over to Shadowstream with his standard prickly gaze.

"Shadowstream, what is this?" he asked sharply. Stonetail appeared at his side worriedly.

"I found this loner wandering in our forest," she said, uncomfortably aware at how similar this was to the incident that happened moons ago, and yet still lingered in her clanmate's memories.

"And…what? You think this is a rest stop for any ragged loner that wanders by?" Looked like his opinions on non-clanners hadn't changed. Great.

Mousewhisker poked his head in suddenly. "Thornstar, this cat is sick. He must stay here."

"He is?" Shadowstream shot a glance at the savior. Now that he mentioned it, his eyes did look a little bright, his nose a little runny.

Mousewhisker nodded. Thornstar faltered visibly. Stonetail leaned toward their leader. "Thornstar, be merciful. Allow the sick cat to stay for a while."

Thornstar nodded wearily. "Alright. The cat may stay…but only for a while." then he turned and retreated to his den again. Shadowstream breathed again.

Mousewhisker led Infinity off to his den. Shadowstream started to follow them, but then she spotted her littermates standing off to the side, looking puzzled. She had to explain all this to them, and then she could check up on Infinity.

Her pelt buzzed as she padded over to them.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER TEN**

**Blacktail was hunting in the woods, near the twolegplace, but not so near that he could see the border. He was thinking hard, and not enjoying himself at all. Why did his brother and sister enjoy this so? It was unpleasant, having all these thoughts buzzing in his head while he was trying to concentrate. **

**In any case, it was the day after Shadowstream had brought the sick loner into camp, then told them in secret how he was the savior, she was sure of it. Turns out their 'savior,' who looked pretty scrawny for a hero, had greencough. It was unusual, too, since the new-leaf days were warm and pleasant. But, nonetheless, he was lying in the Medicine Den under Mousewhisker's watchful eye. Shadowstream checked up on him frequently. Blacktail thought that she considered him her responsibility, since the sign had come to her, and she was probably right.**

**But other thoughts cluttered his mind, too. Namely, Juliet. He now thought it would be a pretty bad idea for him to see her again. The feelings he'd had hours after their trip to Spirit Rock felt distinctly like guilt. And he wouldn't feel guilt if it was just a meaningless outing with a meaningless kittypet. Which meant it had meaning. And maybe not a good one. **

**So the plan was simple- avoid the twolegplace, avoid Juliet, and avoid any guilt or disloyalty to the code. And Day One of the plan was going great. He'd caught a mouse already, and the day was young still. Faint beams of sunshine filtered down through the leaves, leaving narrow patches of light here and there. **

**Yes, certainly, the plan would be easy to stick to. A breeze, in fact. **

**Then, of course, he ran right into her. The very cat he was trying to avoid. And here, a fair distance from the border, of all places. Of course. **

**They locked gazes for a moment, an accident on her part, he was sure. She immediately cast her dark gaze to their paws. "Blacktail! Thank goodness I've found you." the emotion in the words was countered by the lack of any in her voice. "I was starting to think I was getting lost! Oh, and by the way, I decided I like Blacktail more than Darki, so that's your name again. I thought you should know."**

**Blacktail exhaled unhappily. "Hey, Juliet. What do you want?" her stance shifted slightly at his purposely unpleasant tone of voice. **

"**To tell you something important I remembered." she kneaded her paws on the ground in an almost nervous way. **

"**Okay. Tell me." he stood up, letting her know he wasn't interested in staying and chatting. **

**Juliet frowned and raised her eyes, staring at a spot just above his ear. "Why are you being so…" she paused, trying to think of a word. "Different? I thought we were friends. That's what you said, that we were friends."**

**Blacktail sighed. This would be hard. "Listen, Juliet. I realized something."**

"**Okay, tell me," she said in a distinctly mocking tone. **

"**I realized that it's best if we aren't friends. Clan cats shouldn't be friends with anyone outside their clan, especially not kittypets. It's disloyal."**

"**I see," Juliet said slowly. **

"**I knew you'd understand," Blacktail said, relieved. **

"**Yes, I understand." she flung her stare at him suddenly, piercing him with it's coldness. "I'm not good enough to be friends with you. That's it, right? Kittypets aren't as good as clan cats, not by a wide margin. That's what you think." she stood up, her fur bristling. Blacktail tried to protest, but she cut him off. "Fine, Blacktail. Fine. Go ahead and think that you're all high and mighty just because you can catch your own mice. See if I care."**

**She started to pad away. "Wait, Juliet! That's not what I meant at all!" Blacktail called. **

**She turned around, making him cringe with another icy green stare. "My mother thought the clans were bold and brave. My father thought they were pompous, self-satisfied fools. My father was right," she spat, then vanished into the forest. **

**This was best for the plan, and for him. So why did he feel so horrible and sick? Maybe he needed to see Mousewhisker. Yes, that was it. He must be coming down with something. **

**But deep down he knew this wasn't true. **

**-x-**

**Shadowstream padded into the Medicine Den, checking up on Infinity again. She was worried. Greencough was a quick and deadly disease, and a dead savior sure wasn't gonna be saving anyone. **

**Mousewhisker motioned with his tail to be quiet. Infinity was curled up, asleep, in his moss bed. He looked sweet and innocent and pitiful when he was asleep. When he was awake, his fevered mutterings made him just plain annoying. **

"**How is he?" Shadowstream whispered. **

"**Better, actually." Mousewhisker grabbed an herb and put it with a pile of others, presumably to make a poultice. "His nose has stopped running, but his fever's high as ever. Right now I'm preparing this mixture to try and lower it. Other than that, no changes. But I'll let you know if there are."**

"**Thanks, Mousewhisker." Shadowstream left the den, daring to hope. She sent a silent prayer to Bluestream, begging her to help the savior she sent get well again. **

**-x-**

**Sparrowheart was standing over the fresh-kill pile, trying to decide between vole or shrew. Both were equally plump and fresh, and looked equally delicious. What to choose, what to choose? **

"**Hurry up, slow slug!" Dovepelt called out from behind him. "Other hungry cats live in this clan, you know!"**

**He purred. "Yea, yea! Stop pressuring me!"**

**Suddenly, Littlestep and Darknose ran into camp, looking urgent. "Where's Thornstar and Stonetail?" they asked. **

**Stonetail appeared quick as a flash, looking worried. Thornstar loped from his den, blinking as though he wasn't accustom to sunlight anymore. "What's the matter, Littlestep, Darknose?"**

**Darknose stepped forward. "We found two dead mice by the StormClan border, but on our side. And they reeked of StormClan."**

**Littlestep nodded fervently from behind him. Stonetail stiffened, and Thornstar's fur bristled. Sparrowheart's heart sank. This was bad news. **

**-x-**

**Wrath crouched low in the fern patch between WoodClan and MoorClan. He'd managed to learn all the clan's names, and now step two of his plan was in motion. **

**He'd had two options for part two. Either he could lurk in the forest trying to discover a weakness in the clan, which could take who knew how many moons, or he could make one himself. **

**So earlier that day, he'd rolled in the StormClan grasses until their repulsive fish scent clung to his fur. Then he caught two mice and made sure his faux-StormClan scent covered them thoroughly. Last, he dragged them a little ways over the border, staging the perfect scene. **

**A WoodClan warrior, out hunting, would wander upon it and come to the conclusion that StormClan was stealing prey. To make it seem more real, he even ate a few bits of each mouse.**

**Satisfied with his work, he backed into the shadows, heading back to the human territory, where his loyal band awaited news on the plan's progress. But soon, he would return, to lay another scene out. **


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"Good news, Shadowstream. Infinity's finally speaking lucidly, and his fever's cooled down a fair amount. He's going to be fine. You can go see him, if you want. He's in the back, of course."

Mousewhisker's words were like a drink of water on a parched throat- relief. Shadowstream padded to the back of the cave the Medicine Den was in, where Infinity was lying with his head up, looking mildly ill but much better than she'd ever seen him.

"Hey," she said, sitting beside him. "Remember me?"

He laughed. "Of course! Shadowstream. I'm glad you're here. I want to say thank you. If you hadn't found me in the forest, who knows what would've happened?"

Shadowstream blinked. "Oh. Well, you're welcome. Anyone would've done the same thing."

"I suppose. Sure was lucky I found a clan that's so welcoming to outsiders, though."

"Um, right," Shadowstream said, thinking of Shade. The memory of that day was like a fly that just wouldn't go away, buzzing around constantly.

Infinity peered at her. "You don't sound so sure."

"Well…I'm just worried, see."

He sat up a little more, pricking his ears. "Worried? In such a peaceful clan?"

"It's not as peaceful as you think. After all, you've been delirious for pretty much the entire time you've been here."

The words came out sounding harsher than she intended, but he just laughed. "Good point! So, what's the worries about?"

She paused. Her brother always said that anyone outside of the clans couldn't be trusted. But then she finds him in the twolegplace. Where did the logic go? "Thornstar's been acting really weird lately, and even though he's not a kind leader, he's the only one I've ever known, since I was a kit. And everyone think's that StormClan's been stealing our prey, but I'm not so sure about it, but that doesn't matter because what _I_ think doesn't matter."

He frowned. "Why do you say that?"

"Because it's true. I'm the background, I always have been. No one cares about my opinion."

"I do," Infinity said, blinking his bright blue eyes at her. If she stared hard enough, she could make out the green flecks scattered inside them.

"You do?"

"Sure. You saved me, didn't you? I think you're important." How ironic. The clan's savior thought _she_ was important.

"Well, that's nice. But, unfortunately, I'm just one warrior in a whole clan of them. The only ones who have a say in anything is the Leader, Deputy, Medicine Cat, and some of the senior warriors. Regular warriors just do the ordinary tasks."

Infinity frowned. "That doesn't seem very…fair. Shouldn't every cat have their opinion taken into consideration?"

"That's the idea, yes. But it doesn't usually work out that way, especially not with me. I'm not what you would call…outspoken."

"Maybe you should try it. I bet you have some great ideas. You seem smart, at least to me." his smile was warm. Or maybe it was just his lingering fever.

Regardless, his words cheered Shadowstream. "Maybe. But, for now, I've got to get back to those ordinary warrior duties. Hunting, you know." she stood up.

"Oh, okay." he seemed mildly disappointed. Poor thing must be bored silly stuck in the Medicine Den all day.

"I'll try to visit again later, though," she added. He brightened.

"Sure! Maybe we can go hunting together someday?" it was a statement, but it came out like a question. At least, that's what Shadowstream thought.

"Maybe." she smiled and left the den. Dovepelt was sitting by the nursery, chatting with Rabbitwhisker, the newest queen. Struck with a sudden feeling of companionship, she padded over to them.

"Hey, Rabbitwhisker. Dovepelt, want to go hunting with me?" Littermates sure came in handy, sometimes.

-x-

Sparrowheart was sitting alone in the forest, thinking but not hunting.

He'd tried to hunt, but something was nagging at his mind, and he felt it was important enough to focus all his attention on. It was on the tip of his tongue…

Three more mice had been found on their territory since the two found yesterday, all reeking of StormClan. And yet, he somehow didn't think that StormClan was responsible for it. Why would they suddenly abandon their steady fish-and-water vole diet to hunt _their_ mice? And, furthermore, why would they leave half the body in WoodClan territory, incriminating themselves?

But, whatever the reason for their sudden diet switch, theft, and incompetence, if the mice didn't stop showing up, they would be on their way to a battle with StormClan. His fur bristled at the thought.

And a solution to the battle fever beginning to spread through the clan was evading him. He stared off toward StormClan, picturing the bloodshed that might occur if he couldn't think what the solution was…

Suddenly, he remembered. Brightflower!

Not just Brightflower, though, of course. Him as well. Together, they could stop this battle in it's tracks. But first, he had to find out if his instincts were right, and if StormClan really was innocent. And for that, he would need Brightflower, too.

Sparrowheart crouched low in the grass, waiting.

-x-

Blacktail paced around camp, unsure what to do, racked with guilt.

A different kind of guilt, this time. He couldn't forget what had happened with Juliert. His conscious screamed at him whenever he paused to relax, and when he slept his dreams were filled with her disappointed stares and bristling dark tabby pelt.

"Blacktail?" he jumped about five feet in the air.

Dovepelt stared. "Um, yes?" he said, flicking his tail guiltily.

"Yea…anyway, Shadowstream and I are going hunting. Care to join us?"

He sighed. "Not right now. I've got something else I need to do." and indeed he did. He had to do what was right. His sisters shrugged and padded out of camp.


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER TWELVE

Blacktail flinched away as a monster came crashing down the thunder path, leaving a stinking trail of its breath after. He was in the twolegplace, searching for Juliet. He'd tried to track her scent, but their were so many unfamiliar smells distracting him, it soon proved impossible.

And so far, wandering around aimlessly, hoping to run into her again, was also proving to be a bad strategy. But, at last, he wandered upon another kittypet, sitting atop the gate of his garden.

Frankly, Blacktail was surprised that the wooden fence post could support the fat brown tabby tom. Now there's an attractive sight. "Excuse me, kittypet?" he called up.

The tabby glanced around, then spotted him, blinking from wide, friendly looking yellow eyes. "Hello! I haven't seen you around. Did your housefolk just move in?"

"StarClan, no! I'm not a kittypet!" _Be friendly, Blacktail_, he reminded himself. "Um. Nice to meet you. Do you happen to know where Juliet's housefolk live?"

"Juliet…oh yes, the pretty tabby cat! She's seven houses down from this one."

Blacktail smiled, relieved. "Thank you. Um. Bye." he scurried off hastily.

"Goodbye now!" the fat tabby called.

He padded down the houses, noticing how each one was a different color, with different decorations adorning them. He counted as he passed each one, and finally came to the seventh.

It was a pale brown, with a slightly shabby white fence around a wild garden with tall pale green grass and brightly colored flowers. Underneath the cloying flowery smell, and the twoleg stench, of course, he could detect her scent, faint but fresh.

This was definitely the place. He was happy to find that the gate was open, and he slipped into the wild garden, trying to pick up her scent again. But the flowery smell was even stronger in the actual garden, so he had to rely on sight alone.

Then, just ahead of him, past a sweet-smelling pink flower, was Juliet, sitting and admiring an exotic-looking orange and purple flower with wide petals. She leaned up and pushed her face into it, her tail twitching with delight.

He padded up to her, unsure how to greet her. But, as it turns out, her nose was sharper than he thought. She whirled around suddenly, her fur bristling.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"Listen, Juliet. I know you're mad, and you have every right to be, but-"

She cut him off. "You're right, I do. Thanks for the information. I think you can find your way out on your own."

She started to stalk off again, but he stopped her this time, running in front of her. She scowled.

"Hear me out, okay? I was just confused. I've never had friends out of the clans, and I didn't understand…things…and anyway, I don't know how to say this…but, um, I want to be your friend…and I'm sorry."

"Really?"

"Yes! Really, really sorry."

She kneaded her paws on the grass. "How did you find my house, anyway?"

"I asked that fat tabby up their." He pointed in the vague direction with his tail.

"Oh. Charlie. He's nice."

"Yea." he blinked at her apprehensively. She sighed loudly.

"Okay, okay. I forgive you. And I suppose we can be friends again."

Blacktail jumped up and ran over to her, burying his face in her dark striped pelt. "Thank you, Juliet." underneath her strong twoleg scent, he could smell many different flowers and grasses and spores, all embedded in her fur.

He paused, feeling awkward suddenly. She was sitting perfectly still. He extracted his face from her fur and sat up, inching a few claw-lengths away from her.

"Um, sorry."

She shook her head as though dislodging a fly. "See you later, Blacktail." she dipped her head to him, then ran up the wooden stairs and into the twoleg den. Blacktail took that as his cue to leave. And as he did, he felt an immense relief wash over him.

-x-

Finally, Sparrowheart got his chance. Brightflower padded past, bringing up the rear of a border patrol. "Psst! Brightflower!" he hissed. She swung her head around, locking onto Sparrowheart in a second. He beckoned to her with his tail urgently.

"Um…Silverfoot, I'll catch up to you guys. I think I see an, um, mouse."

The silver tom leading the patrol glanced at her. "Okay. See you." She waited until the patrol was out of sight before sitting hesitantly on the border line.

"Sparrowheart? What's going on?"

"Listen, Brightflower," he said, getting up from his crouch. "This is important. Has StormClan been stealing prey from WoodClan?"

She bristled. "No! Who said that?"

"No one's _said _it just yet, but everyone's thinking it. We've found five mice total in our territory, along the border, all of them smelling of StormClan."

Brightflower blinked. "Oh, wow. Sparrowheart, I promise you, no one in StormClan is stealing your prey. We have plenty of our own! No need to steal anyone else's. You have to believe me!" her yellow-green eyes glistened with sincerity.

"I do, Brightflower. But _someone's_ stealing the prey, and we have to figure out who it is before our clans go to war!"

She nodded. "You're right. It's up to us. But what can we do?"

"You said you have a sister, right?"

"Yes. Bluefeather."

"Tell her what's happening, and I'll tell my littermates. Spread the word that a rogue in your territory is stealing WoodClan's prey, and they think that you're responsible. Hopefully, Wildstar will be willing to make peace with my leader."

"Okay, sounds like a plan. What are you going to tell your clanmates?"

"I'll tell them I saw a rogue hanging around the border with you. I'll suggest maybe he could be stealing the prey. That's probably the truth, anyway."

Brightflower smiled. "Good plan, Sparrowheart. And I'm glad everything's okay with you, now. I'll see you later."

Sparrowheart paused. "Wait, Brightflower? Why don't we, um, meet here later tonight? So you can, you know, tell me how it went with your clan, and stuff."

Her eyes twinkled faintly. "Okay. Bye." she turned and broke into a run, disappearing to catch up with her patrol.

Now, it was up to Sparrowheart to carry out his part of the plan.

-x-

When they returned from their hunt, Dovepelt went to drop off both their catches. Shadowstream padded off to the Medicine Den, probably to check up on Infinity. Funny, but Dovepelt hadn't even met the supposed 'savior' yet. In fact, she was more worried about the alleged thefts of StormClan than some unknown enemy.

Sparrowheart appeared from behind her. "Dovepelt, good. I've found you." Blacktail padded into camp just then, looking rather cheerful and not nearly as jumpy as this morning. "And Blacktail! Come on." he beckoned to Dovepelt, walking up to Blacktail.

"Okay, you two, I've got something important to tell you."

"Oh, great. Another message from StarClan?" Blacktail asked.

"No, this is about the StormClan thing. Where's Shadowstream?"

"In the Medicine Den with Infinity, I think," Dovepelt said, curious.

"Well, lets go and get her." he led them into the den. In the back, Shadowstream was sitting by Infinity. He looked much better than he had before. His thick, fluffy black coat was clean again, and his eyes were bright but not glassy with fever. He still looked pretty small and underfed, though. That must be his natural look.

"Yes, I know. But-" Shadowstream broke off as they entered. "Oh, hey. Infinity, these are my littermates, Blacktail, Sparrowheart, and Dovepelt. Guys, this is Infinity."

He smiled. "It's nice to meet you. Shadowstream speaks highly of you."

Dovepelt laughed. "Well, what can I say."

Sparrowheart looked impatient. "Shadowstream, I have to tell everyone something important."

"Okay, what is it?"

He frowned. "In _private_, Shadowstream."

She looked around. "Don't worry, Mousewhisker's out getting more juniper."

Infinity flicked his tail. "I think he means me, actually, Shadowstream."

Shadowstream laid down. "Whatever you can tell me, you can tell Infinity." Dovepelt understood what she was saying. The cat sent by StarClan could surely be trusted. But she wasn't sure she like the way Infinity was looking at her sister… She shook the thought from her mind. Sparrowheart had important news to tell them.

Sparrowheart rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, fine. I suppose a loner like _him_ can be trusted. Now, I talked to Brightflower, and I found something out."

"Brightflower?" Blacktail asked, confused. Dovepelt narrowed her eyes.

"That StormClan she-cat? Getting awfully chummy with her, aren't you, Sparrowheart?"

Sparrowheart hissed faintly. "I had too. She's the only StormClan cat I know. Anyway, I found out that StormClan _isn't _stealing prey."

"And you think we can trust the word of a she-cat from _StormClan_? Really, Sparrowheart?" Blacktail said sharply.

"He has a point, you know." Dovepelt said.

Shadowstream just flicked her ears quietly. Infinity nudged her pointedly. "Okay, fine. Listen, I'm with Sparrowheart. I never really believed that StormClan was stealing prey like that. I mean, it just doesn't make sense."

Dovepelt thought. "Actually, you're right. Why would they just leave the evidence lying around for anyone to find?"

Blacktail nodded. "And why steal prey at all? It's new-leaf, for crying out loud!"

Sparrowheart smiled. "Exactly. But no one else in the clan seems to see the logic in this. So it's up to us to spread the word. I'm going to tell everyone I saw a rogue on the border. You tell cats that you don't think it makes sense that StormClan would steal prey…get it?"

They nodded. Sparrowheart felt hopeful. A battle just might be evaded after all.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Sparrowheart got his chance sooner than he'd thought. Graystorm came stalking into camp, his fur bristling. "Thornstar? Stonetail?" he called out.

Stonetail appeared quickly, but yet again Thornstar took his sweet time padding from his den. "Yes, Graystorm?" the clan listened attentively, and even Graystorm's mate, Darkflower, poked her head out of the nursery, where she cared for their three kits.

"It's happened again, Thornstar. Two more mice, half-eaten, smelling of StormClan, just like the others."

Several hisses went up from the crowed, and Sparrowheart even heard one warrior shout for revenge. Thornstar narrowed his eyes, and Stonetail frowned worriedly. _He doesn't want a war either_, Sparrowheart thought.

"Wait, everyone!" Sparrowheart called. "This morning when I was hunting by the border with StormClan, I saw this rogue stalking a mouse. I chased him off, of course, but maybe he's the one who's been stealing prey."

"Sparrowheart might be on to something," Dovepelt murmured. The clan buzzed like a hive of bees.

"Well," Thornstar said. "I was going to plan for battle if any new mice showed up…but with this new development…"

Sparrowheart was a little worried. The Thornstar he knew never would have second-guessed himself…but in this case, it worked out for him. Stonetail nodded.

"Perhaps we should give this another day of thought," he suggested.

"I've got a better idea," a voice called out softly. Everyone turned at once. Infinity was standing in front of the Medicine Den, with a shy-looking Shadowstream at his side. "Well, actually, Shadowstream's got a better idea. Tell them, Shadowstream," he prompted.

She flicked her tail nervously. "Well, um, I thought maybe…you know, we could negotiate a peaceful meeting with Wildstar, on the border, and talk about it. If a rogue is taking our prey, we can resolve this, and if they are thieves, we can find out…"

Sparrowheart nodded. It wasn't a bad idea. "Go on," Thornstar said.

"Okay. Well, we could send a warrior to tell a border patrol about it. And we could bring the leader, of course, deputy, Medicine Cat, and a few warriors. And we could resolve things peacefully."

Stonetail smiled. "Sounds like a good idea. What do you think, Thornstar?"

Their leader looked incredibly tired. "Okay. We will try this 'peace meeting.'"

Shadowstream smiled. Infinity looked satisfied. Sparrowheart purred.

-x-

"See," Infinity said later. Shadowstream was sitting beside him in the Medicine Den again. "I told you that you have good ideas. And your clanmates would listen if you just gave them a chance."

"I'm not so sure. I think they just listened because you were there. The mysterious loner, and all."

He blinked. "Mysterious? I'm not mysterious. There's nothing special about me."

_I'll have to disagree, _Shadowstream thought. _Out of the two of us here, only one was sent by StarClan._ Out loud, she said, "So I'm special, but you're not?"

"I guess your right. It's easy to see the good in other cats, but hard to see the good in yourself, sometimes, eh?"

"Well, I think there are special things about you," Shadowstream said.

"Like what?"

She paused. She couldn't tell him about the prophecy. Not yet. The time wasn't right. She wasn't sure how she knew this, but she did. In any case, Mousewhisker was only a few fox-lengths away, sorting herbs or some other Medicine Cat thing.

"Um…you survived a vicious fox attack, not to mention a strange bout of greencough in new-leaf. And you got the clan to listen to my idea. Which, by the way, I haven't thanked you for yet. So thank you."

He looked embarrassed. "I wasn't fishing for compliments, you know. Just wondering what you thought of me." he paused, looking unsure. "Because…I think you're pretty amazing."

Shadowstream shut her mouth as soon as it fell open. She had no idea what to say, and Infinity's green-flecked eyes wouldn't stop staring at her. The silence stretched for seasons and seasons.

Finally, Infinity broke it. "Well, I'm pretty tired. I might as well get to sleep now." he set his head on his paws, as if to demonstrate his massive need for sleep.

"Oh! Um, okay, I'll see you, around…" she stood up, walking slowly to the front of the den.

"Shadowstream?"

"Yeah?"

"Will I see you tomorrow?"

"I think so, yes."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Oh, and Shadowstream?"

"Yeah?"

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

-x-

Mousewhisker had sent Dovepelt out to get some coltsfoot. And of course she said yes, you didn't just turn down a Medicine Cat, no matter how exciting things were getting in camp.

So, most unwilling, she was at the twolegplace border, where a coltsfoot patch grew in abundance.

She bent down and tugged out a few stalks of the plant, leaves and all, like Mousewhisker told her.

Suddenly, a chill went up her spine. She spun around, her fur bristling for some reason. For a second, she thought she saw a pair of sinister amber eyes glaring at her from the shadows. Then, they were gone, and she was left with a jumpy, frightened feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She ran all the way back to camp.

-x-

When Sparrowheart arrived at the fern patch, Brightflower was already there. Her fur glowed prettily in the moonlight, but she looked nervous.

"Brightflower!" Sparrowheart called out. She grinned, and he hesitantly touched noses with her. She didn't draw away, which he took as a good sign.

"So what happened, Sparrowheart?"

"My leader wants to meet with Wildstar."

She stared. "Pardon?"

"A peaceful meeting. Each of our clans brings their leader, deputy, medicine cat, and three warriors. I volunteered to tell a 'border patrol.' We were thinking…sunhigh tomorrow. You have to convince Wildstar."

"Well, if you can convince Thornstar, I think I can convince Wildstar." Sparrowheart paused. He had been about to tell her that Thornstar had been acting strangely lately, but he'd stopped himself. He had to remember: Even if they were friends, she was from a different clan, and she could still take advantage of WoodClan's weaknesses. If that really _was_ a weakness, and not merely something that would go away with time.

"But, Sparrowheart, how should I tell Wildstar that I've found out?"

He thought. "Just say that you ran into a patrol that told you about it."

"Okay. I guess I should go do that now, right?"

"Yeah. We'll be here at sunhigh tomorrow. Try to get Wildstar to be here, too."

Her yellow-green eyes caught the moonlight. "Don't worry. I will."


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Thornstar was picking the cats who were going with him to the StormClan border. Stonetail and Mousewhisker were already standing at the dark-pelted leader's side.

"Alright. The warriors who will accompany me will be… Shadowstream, of course, who thought of this plan in the first place. Second, Sparrowheart, for your contributions to the plan. Third, Graystorm. We leave at sunhigh, so eat a quick meal and report to my den when you finish."

Dovepelt sighed, disappointed. Two of her littermates going, but she was going to miss out on the excitement yet again. Shadowstream grabbed a finch and dragged it to the Medicine Den, clearly intending on eating with Infinity. Though the loner was completely cured of his green cough, he still slept in the den, since there was no room for him anywhere else, and no one was sure of his future in the clan. There was no time to talk about it, what with the StormClan drama going on.

She knew it was important the loner stay with them, but she still wished Shadowstream would spend a little less time hanging around him.

Dovepelt shook the thoughts from her head and glanced around. She went to join Sparrowheart as he downed a water vole rapidly.

"You know, when Thornstar said 'a quick meal' I think he meant for you to swallow your food." she commented.

"Ha, ha. I'm just really excited for the mission, that's all."

Dovepelt sighed. "I know, I know. I hope everything goes well."

"It will, as long as Brightflower gets Wildstar to show up." he finished his meal. "Well, I'm going to go to the Leader's Den. I'll tell you everything when we get back, I promise!" he scurried off.

Dovepelt padded past the Medicine Den, stopping when she heard the loner's voice.

"So, are you excited for your important mission, Shadowstream?" he said. His voice sounded different when he talked to her than when he talked to other cats. Dovepelt pricked her ears, feeling guilty, but too curious to stop.

"Of course! And it's all thanks to you."

"That's silly. You had it in you all along. You just needed a little…shove."

"Listen…I've got to get going now, but…I'll be back after the mission. We should, um, talk, or something."

There was a pause. "Yea, sure, Shadowstream."

Dovepelt practically flew to the fresh-kill pile, staring at it guiltily. Her sister emerged from the den heartbeats later, padding off to the Leader's Den.

If they were going talk more after the mission, well, that was one conversation Dovepelt wasn't going to miss. Despite the guilty twinges. It was eavesdropping…but how could it be bad if it was for the good of her sister, and not to mention the warrior code?

-x-

Sparrowheart felt his fur prickling with apprehension as they neared the border. At once, a million questions flooded his mind. Would they find peace? Who was stealing prey? Would their be bloodshed today? Were StormClan thieves after all? Would they even show up?

The last question filled his head until he was practically shaking with nerves. _Bluestream, give me courage_. He sent up a silent prayer to his lost love, as he often did.

But, he hadn't have worried about them showing up. As Brightflower promised, StormClan was present, lined up on the border.

In the front was Wildstar. Her dark ginger fur was sticking up and spiking out at insane angles, and her lively green eyes flashed at the sight of them. Her deputy, Minnowwhisker, a slender silver she-cat, stood close by, as did the Medicine Cat, Deerflower.

Behind them were the three warriors- Pebblefur, the small gray tom, Brightflower, looking lovely as ever, and a pale blue-gray she-cat who Sparrowheart supposed was Bluefeather, Brightflower's sister, since they were nearly identical in build.

"Thornstar," Wildstar said, dipping her head respectfully. Thornstar copied her gesture. Their leader stopped just short of the border. Stonetail hovered close to his side, but not so close that it would appear Thornstar couldn't manage on his own. Mousewhisker nodded his head to Deerflower. Medicine Cats were, of course, on better terms than warriors of different clans. Sparrowheart and his clanmates fanned out behind the others. He caught Brightflower's eye, and she flashed the tiniest hint of a smile.

"Wildstar. I'm glad you're here."

"Care to tell me why this 'peace meeting' was made in the first place?" she didn't look dignified with her crazy fur, but their was a clever gleam her eyes.

"Mysterious things have been happening. For the past week, we have been finding two or three mice on our territory. They are always half-eaten and scented with StormClan. You can see the conclusion we may have come to."

Minnowwhisker and Pebblefur bristled. Sparrowheart supposed Wildstar was bristling, as well, but it was hard to tell, what with her fur. Deerflower cast a worried glance around.

"However, two days ago, my warrior, Sparrowheart, saw a rogue on the border. After thinking for a while, WoodClan is no longer certain what has happened. Therefore, the need for communication arose, and Shadowstream came up with this idea."

"I can assure WoodClan that we are not stealing your prey. It is new-leaf. Our relations with our other bordering clan, ReedClan, are great. Until now, I assumed our relations with WoodClan were fine, too. We are thriving."

Minnowwhisker hissed. "And if we _were_ to steal prey, it wouldn't be mice. Ick." Wildstar nodded.

Thornstar flicked his tail. "I believe you. Clearly, a rogue has been stealing prey from our territory. I can only hope that Sparrowheart scared him off."

Wildstar looked satisfied. "Indeed. We will keep an eye out for this rogue."

"As will we."

"Then, this meeting is over, correct?"

"Correct."

And just like that, the meeting dissolved. The StormClan cats dipped their heads, then turned and ran. Seemed to be their favored way to leave a scene. Brightflower glanced over her shoulder, locking eyes with Sparrowheart, but no one else noticed. Then she vanished over the horizon, no doubt heading back to the caves.

Shadowstream brushed against Sparrowheart. "Mission accomplished, brother." she purred. He smiled. Victory.

-x-

Since he hadn't been chosen for the mission, Blacktail decided to head to the twolegplace. With all the clan drama, he hadn't seen Juliet in a while, and despite what he might try to explain away, he missed her.

He said a polite hello Charlie, the fat tabby, as he passed by. He hurried on, not wanting to encourage him to chat. He stopped in front of her house, spotting her on the porch.

"Juliet!" he called. She lifted her head, looking around until she spotted him.

For a moment she vanished into the overgrown garden, then she emerged from the gate.

"Hey, Blacktail. Perfect timing! Want to come see something?" she had a dandelion spore on her forehead. Blacktail leaned forward licked it off.

She watched it float to the strange stone ground. "Sure, Juliet. What is it?"

Beckoning with her tail, she padded into the garden. He followed. She led him around several huge flower bushes, until they came upon the loveliest flower he'd seen so far.

It was deep, bright blue, with tips of pinkish purple. Flecks of deeper purple dotted the petals. The center was tiny, circular, and white, and it seemed to glow, like a tiny little sun was inside it.

"Woah…" he leaned closer to examine it.

"Amazing, isn't it? My housefolk just brought it in and planted it yesterday. It's called a 'blue orchid.'"

"It's beautiful. You sure like living in this garden, eh?"

"Oh, yes. Every once in a while, my housefolk bring in a pretty new flower. Sometimes, the flowers die, which is sad. But he always brings in new ones. So, why haven't you been down here for a while?"

"Lots of excitement in the clans. We think StormClan might be stealing prey from us. But, then, we think it might be a harmless rogue. Today, my leader, deputy, Medicine Cat, and three warriors, are going to meet with them."

"Oh…but what's the big deal? Isn't their plenty of prey to go around?"

"I suppose, but it's not that simple. Each clan has it's own set out territory for a reason. Stealing prey is against the warrior code."

She stared above his shoulder. "That code sure is important."

"It's the foundation for all life in the clans. Without it, their would be no order. Maybe some other time I'll tell you all the different things in it. It's pretty interesting, actually."

"Sounds good…" she sighed. "What's it like, living in a big clan like that? Always surrounded by your clanmates, never alone…do you like it?"

"Oh, yeah, I love it. Sometimes all those cats can get on your nerves, but mostly, it's just the greatest thing to have all that support behind you. Loyalty…that's a big part of the code, see."

"I wonder if I would be different if I was a clan cat…" she stared at the blue orchid.

"Why think about that? You're fine the way you are."

She sighed. "That's nice of you to say. But even if I was the greatest cat it entire world, no one would know about it, because I'm all alone in this garden." she paused. "Other than you, of course."

Blacktail flicked his tail awkwardly. "Well, Juliet, sure, I like living in the clans…but things aren't always mice and moonbeams, you know. In leaf-bare prey is scarce and everyone goes hungry. And there's whitecough, and bad outbreaks of greencough. Just last moon Thornstar lost a life to greencough."

She glanced up from her paws, momentarily distracted. "Lost a life? What do you mean?"

Relieved, Blacktail explained. "You know about StarClan, right?"

"Sure. The stars are all dead warriors that try to help the clans. My brothers never believed in them, but I always thought…you know, maybe it could be true."

"It is, trust me. Anyway, when a leader dies, the deputy becomes leader. So the Leader travels to the Starcave at the center of all the clans, and speaks with StarClan. And then nine cats that influenced the new leader in some way come down and give them nine lives to protect their clan with."

"So a leader can die eight times before he actually dies?" her eyes sparkled with wonder. "My mother never mentioned that."

"She probably didn't know. Anyway, everyone's worried about Thornstar, because no matter how many lives you have, it isn't affected by old age."

Juliet stood up suddenly. "Come on. Let's go somewhere."

"Where?" Blacktail stood up, too.

She led him around the flower bushes, toward the open gate. "Who knows? Anywhere."


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

So it was back to this. Dovepelt was lurking outside the Medicine Den, eavesdropping yet again on her sister and the 'savior.' She felt like a scoundrel, sure, and she was terrified someone would find her, yeah, but she had to do it anyway. Right?

But so far the conversation wasn't going anywhere. They were talking about millions of things, but whenever Infinity tried to breach the topic, Shadowstream quickly switched to something else.

"Dovepelt?" Dovepelt jumped about five feet in the air. Littlestep, a small brown tabby, peered at her curiously.

"Yes?" she said, trying her hardest to sound innocent.

"What're you doing?"

"Nothing!" she spluttered. Littlestep stared. "I was just, uh, daydreaming. I'm gonna go hunt," she practically ran out of camp.

Deep in WoodClan's territory, she paused, pricking her ears. A small scuffling noise was coming from under some leaves nearby. Well, if she was here, she might as well hunt. She tensed, crouching low, sniffing the scent of…mouse. She crept forward, then sprang, quickly delivering the death blow. She dropped the mouse on the ground for a moment, pausing to smooth back some ruffled fur with her tongue.

Suddenly, she felt a cold feeling creeping up her spine. She lifted her head, tensing. The leaves of the ferns in front of her rustled. Suddenly, two amber eyes, glittering dully, appeared between the leaves.

Dovepelt gasped, taking a step back as a dark paw reached through the ferns. She stumbled back as a small, dark-pelted cat emerged from the plant, glaring at her malevolently.

"Who are you?" she gasped. His eyes narrowed. He crouched over her kill, bending his head down and lapping up a few drops of the mouse's blood. He sank his teeth into it slowly, his eyes never leaving her, holding her tightly. He ripped a chunk of the mouse and swallowed it slowly.

"Wrath," he hissed. Then he snatched the mouse up and vanished into the fern again, quick as a snake. Dovepelt shivered, feeling more scared than she ever had in her own territory.

-x-

Blacktail and Juliet were walking down her street, headed toward a wooded clearing. "So this is the place where the more adventurous kittypets come to hunt and run around and play warrior."

Blacktail couldn't help but chuckle at that thought. "Until it's time to run back home and eat tasteless pellets from a bowl."

Juliet gave him a look, and he fell silent. "Anyway," she continued. "The woodsy clearing is separated by the forest by this river. I used to live in the forest, actually, when I was really little. I don't really remember that much about it, but I had to leave and go find a human to take me in."

"That's too bad," Blacktail said, trying to imagine what it'd be like to leave WoodClan's territory.

"Yea. But the point here is the river."

"The river? What's so great about it?"

"Well," she paused to flick away a fly with her tail. "It's really more like what's _in_ the river." she purposely didn't elaborate, her eyes glittering.

Blacktail took the bait with a sigh. "What's _in_ the river?"

She turned to look him full in the face, grinning. "Rainbow fish!"

He smiled. "Oh, really, now?"

Juliet smirked. "Fine, don't believe me. But it's true. These long, sleek fish with white stomachs, and then on top they look all speckly and green-grayish and normal, right?"

"Yes, I'm with you so far."

"But then, if you look on their sides, there's a little rainbow! A shimmery little rainbow stripe! It's the coolest fish, without a doubt."

"Mhmm. Sure."

"Oh, I see. You're one of those 'I'll believe it when I see it' types, huh?"

Blacktail shrugged. "I guess so."

"Well," she stopped. Blacktail saw that they had reached the brink of the wooded clearing. She turned to face him again. "If you only believe in the things you can see, you'll have a real boring life."

Then she pranced into the woods. Blacktail sighed and followed her.

"So," she said, once he'd caught up to her. "This is Blackbird Clearing, Blackbird River, Blackbird Woods, you get the picture."

As they trekked through Blackbird Clearing, they passed several kittypets doing what could best be described exactly how Juliet had: playing warrior. Some were stalking prey with pitiful hunting skills, others engaging in fights that seemed to consist of flopping around and flailing paws with sheathed claws at each other.

Juliet shook her head, laughing slightly. "I never understood the appeal, myself," she said. "But there are some kittypets who aren't half bad. They might last in as a real warrior, you know? But they'll never get the chance."

Blacktail couldn't help but agree. "Yea, my leader doesn't approve much off outsiders. And most of my clanmates feel the same way."

"So do you, I thought." she said.

He stared at her sideways as they walked. "My opinions on that might be changing."

"Oh, really, now?" she said, distinctly mocking his skeptical tone.

"Yea, really."

She fell silent, and so they walked for a while longer without speaking. And then the trees cleared up for a moment and they were at a relatively small river, though it was clear and sparkling.

"Blackbird river!" Juliet announced, grinning at it.

"Home of the alleged rainbow fish."

"Gaze into it's depths and be skeptical no more!" she said, purring.

Blacktail peered into the river. All he saw were greenish-yellowish speckled fish. "Amazing," he said dryly.

She frowned. "Let me look." she glanced in, and then sighed. "Well, you can't see the sides of them. Here, hang on."

She stilled herself. Then she raised her paw, watching the fish intently. Suddenly she swiped her paw deep into the river and pulled up a squirming fish, holding it onto the riverbank with one paw.

Along the side, just as she'd promised, was a stripe of glistening red and orange colors.

"Wow," he said, leaning closer to examine it.

"Seen enough to believe?" she asked wryly. He nodded.

She swatted the fish back into the river, looking satisfied.

"In the clans, we kill the fish we catch and eat them. Well, my clan doesn't, but ReedClan and StormClan do."

Juliet made a face. "Eat fish? But they smell. Plus…there so cute." she laughed.

Blacktail shrugged. "I guess they like it. But…I thought you said you couldn't hunt prey?"

She blinked. "I didn't. I caught a fish. Fish aren't prey."

"Well, it's pretty impressive. Most cats in WoodClan and MoorClan can't catch fish. I can't." he smiled at her, and she flushed.

"Maybe I'll teach you how one day," she said.

"And maybe I can teach you to hunt."

She raised her eyes to look at him, her glittering Greenleaf eyes warming his.

"Juliet?" and incredulous voice pierced the silenced. A dark brown tom stood behind them, looking none to friendly.

"Silt," she sighed. "What do you want?"

He hissed. "I was under the impression you thought yourself too good for Blackbird Clearing."

"Just because I don't enjoy participating in these silly activities, doesn't mean I don't like to visit the river now and then."

He eyed Blacktail. "Who's this?"

"That's not really any of your business, is it, Silt?"

"No, it's yours." he drew closer to her. "There was a time, Juliet, when your business was mine, too."

She stepped away, closer to Blacktail. "That time is over, as you very well know."

Silt sighed. "Alright, I see how it is now." his gaze softened. "Nothing I can say will change your mind?" She shook her head, glaring.

He surveyed them both. "It's clear you've moved on. Well, I suppose I'll be seeing you."

"Don't count on it," she hissed.

He slunk off. Once he was out of sight, she headed toward her street briskly. Blacktail ran to catch up with her.

"Who was that?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she snapped. Blacktail faltered, and she sighed.

"Sorry. Let's just say…remember how I said some cats here are tough enough that maybe they could survive being real warriors?"

"Yea…"

"Well, Silt is one of those cats."

"He seemed interested in you."

"I suppose he is. Or was."

"And you…?"

Juliet cast him a sideways glanced. "At one time, maybe. Not anymore."

Blacktail shrugged off the wave of relief he felt, along with the jealousy that twinged his pelt moments before.

-x-

Sparrowheart sat on the StormClan border, waiting patiently. The evening sky was beginning to darken, and he knew he'd only have few minutes to speak with Brightflower about their peace treaty success.

But a few minutes were better than none.

A moment later he saw her dark gray tabby head poke through the tall grass. She carried a fish in her jaws.

"I figured we could have a quick bite to eat. To celebrate, and all," she said.

Sparrowheart smiled. "Great." she smiled back, beautifully.

-x-

Infinity sighed. "Shadowstream…let's talk now, okay?"

"We've been talking for a while," she said, not meeting his gaze.

"You know what I mean." he looked like he need a bit of honesty.

"Infinity, I have something important to tell you," she said solemnly. He perked up. "But I need to wait until all my littermates are with me to tell you."

He sighed. "It's not going to be what I want to hear, right?"

She shrugged. "It's going to be surprising."


End file.
